Gonzalez Companies Teams with SCCTD to offer Mentoring Opps around Light Rail Expansion
St. Clair County youth have an opportunity to be a part of the future of transit through a local mentorship program. Local firm Gonzalez Companies LLC is offering mentor programming as part of its role as the project manager for the St. Clair County Transit District on the light rail expansion project in Illinois.
“We are using this project to provide internship and full-time employment opportunities for youth in our community specifically in the fields of engineering, construction management and administration. As the project progresses, we’ll have more opportunities to include youth in our program,” said Patrick Judge, Managing Principal/Chief Operating Officer with Gonzalez Companies LLC.
The 8-week program began on June 14 and is held every Tuesday and Thursday starting at 9 a.m. with lunch being provided. Participants have the opportunity to work along side industry professionals including shadowing opportunities with in various types of professional and technical careers while learning about the necessary education and/or training that is associated with each path.
Engineering and design services are underway on the 5.5-mile, light rail expansion project set to extend the MetroLink alignment in Illinois from the Shiloh-Scott MetroLink Station to MidAmerica St. Louis Airport. This project is being completed in partnership with Bi-State Development/Metro Transit with $96 million in funding through Governor Pritzker’s Rebuild Illinois Plan passed in 2019.