Green Jobs News: A Promising Solution
It’s no secret that there is plenty of work ahead of us in moving the U.S. to a green economy. The trouble is not in finding people who need work, but rather in finding qualified and well trained workers to take on those jobs.
For companies facing a shortage of applicants, a promising solution is in the works: Green jobs training programs will make it easier for companies to make those hires, and federal, state and local projects are helping spread those nationwide.
As an added bonus, these programs will also make it easier for companies who prioritize hiring local, to meet their goals. Sun Light and Power, a solar panel installer based in Berkeley, Calif., thinks these green job training programs offer the best of both words:Workers that are both local and well trained.
“It’s important for us to hire employees from the community because we believe in continuing to support learning and development after the training programs they’ve gone through,” said Ellen Lee, Human Resources Director for Sun Light & Power.
The company has participated in green job training programs in the Bay Area, which allows them to have an influence in how potential employees are trained and participate in job development. And even though this may be a new concept for the green job sector, it is likely to become the trend.
Green for All, an Oakland-based non-profit organization, is working on a national level to influence public policy and help create similar green job training programs across the country. And Californians are starting to see the green economy light up, funded by federal stimulus dollars.
On June 29, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced $20 million in grants to 11 regional pilot projects as a part of the state-wide Green Job Corps program, which was launched in March.
“We are working around the clock to bring Recovery Act funding into California as quickly, effectively and responsibly as possible to stimulate our economy,” said Governor Schwarzenegger in a prepared statement.
“Using Recovery funds and public-private partnerships, the California Green Jobs Corps will help 1,500 at-risk young adults realize a brighter future while stimulating our economy and working toward a greener California.”
Funding for the program will include career training in: energy efficiency, solar power, green construction, and alternative automotive fuel, among other things, the Governor’s office reports. In addition to job training, there will be a community service component, as well as civic education and environmental stewardship, said a representative with California Volunteers, the lead agency in charge of overseeing the California Green Jobs Corps.
The stimulus funding comes from Recovery Act Workforce Investment Act funds, of which 15 percent is part of the Governor’s discretionary fund and was prioritized for the creation of the job corps program, said Jairo Moncada, communications manager with California Volunteers.
“[The California Green Job Corps program] gives us an opportunity to make sure we are putting the dollars to work,” Moncada said in a telephone interview. Because green jobs are an emerging sector, the program is a way to ensure at-risk youth (ages 16 to 24) are prepared for the job market, a component of the Governor’s plan to improve the economy.
California Volunteers is in an ideal situation to organize the program, “because our office has experience with public-private partnerships and leveraging state, local and federal resources,” said William Ing, specialist for new initiatives with the Employment Development Department of the governor’s office. In addition, the Volunteers program works with the Ing’s office, which runs the grant program and administers funds on a daily basis, he said.
On a local level, each program will maintain partnerships with four types of entities: a community college or district, a local workforce investment board, a non-profit organization and a private employer. While it may seem like additional levels of bureaucracy, Ing said the partnerships are a flat design: one entity receives the grant money and works with partners to understand needs of both the students and the employers.
“We don’t see that as an additional layer [of bureaucracy], we see that as a logical way of building a program,” where four entities are working together, Ing said. For example, a non-profit could help the community college understand the needs of non-typical students, who might have been in the foster system or had contact with the criminal justice system. In addition, the private employer could provide feedback to the community college regarding to the skills future employees need for a particular industry.
What and Where the Green Jobs Are
While there is no concrete definition of “green-collar jobs,” the flexibility of the term is important, so that local programs can use stimulus funds based on their own needs and conditions, Ing said. “We want to be supportive of local needs for different regions,” he said, noting that demands in the Bay Area are likely to be very different than in the Central Valley or in Southern California.
The Governor’s website even has an interactive map of Stimulus projects in the state.
These multi-faceted job-training programs are a part of the Obama Administration’s policies, as well as the state of California’s policies for economic development.
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