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opportunities, and continuously enhance all of our efforts so that employees view Eureka as a supportive, inspiring, and preferred place to work. The HR department and executive leadership continue to focus on broadening the understanding of all management personnel on the importance of a diverse and inclusive workforce through ongoing training and engagement. One of our key strategies for retaining employees in fields where recruiting is difficult and where there could potentially be high turnover is to intentionally create stronger career pathways. One example of this is in our maintenance department. It is incredibly difficult to recruit a strong external candidate that has the skills to be able to work on our very specific recycling equipment, so we have implemented an internal training program that involves advancements when certain milestone goals are met. In 2020 we received the Dual Training Pipeline Grant through Minnesota's Department of Economic Development, and this training program has been fully implemented. Maintenance training staff from Century College comes onsite once per month to deliver training in the field of maintenance, and one other session per month involves doing online courses and evaluations. We have three entry-level maintenance employees in this program, two of them people of color, one of whom came out of incarceration. We have also worked extensively to create a similar pipeline for the collections team by creating an apprenticeship program. It is expensive to get a Commercial Driver's License (CDL) and typically requires paying thousands of dollars, which can be an insurmountable barrier. Our driver apprenticeship program allows us to recruit entry- level candidates, many of whom are candidates of color, to work towards getting a Class B CDL while receiving training and support through Eureka and earning an income. The apprentice starts as a Driver Helper, which allows them to learn skills such as navigation, route operation, and truck operation of hydraulics. We support them in studying to get their CDL permit and then they can get the necessary training hours on the job. By the time that they have gotten their CDL, which can take 6-18 months, the individual is ready to be promoted into one of our collection driver positions. This has been a successful program and we are working to further develop community partnerships to serve as recruiting partners for the program. We are committed to continuing to advance our maintenance dual training pipeline and our driver apprenticeship program valuable as recruiting and retention tools, as well as a demonstration of how to work towards justice and to offer opportunities that are good for individuals and the communities they live in. Procurement and Contracting We work with a range of vendors and contractors every day to deliver our services and fulfill our mission. These relationships range from the company that plows our parking lot in the winter, to the local cooperative that fuels are trucks with biodiesel, to vendors that provide us with parts and help us fix equipment, to the companies from whom we purchase winter hats. Being an independent and locally based non-profit, we have always understood the benefit to the local community by working with other locally owned companies and we have always looked to embed our values of environmental and social impact in how we spend our dollars. As part of this ongoing work, we are working over the next 18 months to review all of our vendor relationships to see where we can RFP for City of Roseville Recycling Services • D-20