For much of his life, Leonard Montagno has had trouble convincing local businesses that he was worthy of employment. A criminal record that spanned years dogged him, despite his upbeat personality and strong work ethic.
Montagno made some believers recently through his work in a new one-week, 28-hour training program in Warren County that has helped individuals with criminal histories gain work skills and life skills as part of a new venture that will help provide clean water around the world.
Montagno and five other local residents were the first graduates of Warren County’s “Workforce Advancement through Vocational Education,” known as WAVE.
WAVE was overseen by staff from Warren County Department of Workforce Development and non-profit The Water Genome, which since 2019 has distributed over 300,000 gallons of clean water to those in need around the U.S.
Participants in WAVE received plumbing and electrical training and a stipend, as the program was funded by a $50,000 donation from a private business.
Local entrepreneur Drew FitzGerald is a co-founder of The Water Genome, and he approached Warren County Department of Workforce Development Director Liza Ochsendorf about a pilot program to build water filtration systems in Warren County.
Ochsendorf and Fitzgerald worked with Ben Deeb Training & Consulting, Warren County Sheriff Jim LaFarr, EDC Warren County President Jim Siplon and Local 773 Plumbers & Steamfitters to help create a program where selected participants put together portable water filtration systems for local use that The Water Genome created.
Through WAVE, individuals with criminal histories learned valuable skills to transfer to a formidable career, gained tools to overcome their justice barriers, and gained a sense of purpose by helping to provide clean drinking water to communities in need.
“To me, it was great to know there are people who care, and that together we can do good things and help people,” Montagno said.
Working with The Water Genome, the participants in WAVE produced portable water stations known as The Water Spot, a system that developers hope will address aging water infrastructure around the country to provide clean water in places where it is needed.
Local 773 Plumbers & Steamfitters hosted the WAVE program at its location in Queensbury. Union Business Manager Michael Jarvis said the skills the participants learned will be useful as companies such as Global Foundries and Regeneron seek local workers.
Ochsendorf said the collaboration taught participants important vocational skills, but also that there are people who care about getting them on the right track. The Warren County Department of Workforce Development is looking for new business partners to continue forward with WAVE.
“We are so grateful for our community partners in this initiative and that we were able to help these gentlemen gain some marketable skills and more opportunities for employment,” Ochsendorf said. “The re-entry population remains the hardest population to employ because of thousands of barriers to training and employment opportunities due to their criminal record, even if it was many years ago. We know that the number one thing to prevent recidivism is a good job and research also shows that when given a second chance, this population is a more loyal employee.”
At a WAVE graduation ceremony on November 25, FitzGerald told participants that they should be proud of their accomplishments, helping people get clean drinking water and learning new skills for future use.
Austin Fletcher, who completed WAVE with Montagno, said employers should understand that people can change when given the right opportunity.
“I’m willing to work. What happened in my life before is in the past,” he said.
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