The federal government is sending gobs of money to local municipalities for infrastructure upgrades—in real terms, more than during the infrastructure-building craze of the New Deal. It will be a once-in-a-generation opportunity for local DC residents to snag all the jobs that will be coming down the line to do all the building work.

The planning starts now. That’s why we’ve invited one of the country’s leading experts on workforce development, Annelies Goger of Brookings, to walk us through where to begin. FC2 Trustee Deryl McKissack, founder of DC-based engineering and architecture firm McKissack & McKissack, offered the industry perspective. Co-moderating was FC2 Trustee Antwayne Ford who is heavily involved in revamping local workforce development systems.