GREEN: Energy Efficiency, Equity and Jobs

Promoting a Green Economy for All

In Tennessee

Why WOW? Involved in the writing of the Green Jobs Act of

2007 Hosted Generating Real Economic Equity Now

(GREEN) Institute (Ms. Foundation for Women) Authored numerous papers and fact sheets on

topic of women and green jobs Acting as national technical assistance partner for

sites selected as part of Jobs for the Future’s Pathways out of Poverty project (U.S. Dept of Labor grant)

Working on green jobs guide for Women’s Bureau; co-host of audio conference series held in advance of release

Offer GREEN Space newsletter and website clearinghouse of resources at wowonline.org

Why Women? Top 10 Occupations Employing Women (2008 data)

2/3 of all working women are clustered in only 21 of 500 job categories

Why Green? According to U.S. DoL: green jobs are

now defined as either: Jobs in businesses that produce goods or

provide services that benefit the environment or conserve natural resources.

Jobs in which workers’ duties involve making their establishment’s production processes more environmentally friendly or use fewer natural resources.

What’s News in Tennessee?From the outside…

Hemlock Semiconductor Corp. and its parent company, Dow Corning, will locate a polycrystalline silicon manufacturing plant in Clarksville.The companies announced an investment of $1.2 billion to $2.5 billion in a plant that will produce a primary component used in the manufacture of solar panels and other energy equipment. Between 500 and 900 people will be employed at the facility within five to seven years…

Tennessee could add 45,000 new “green” jobs with a $1.9 billion investment in energy efficiency and renewable energy production, a new report from the state’s labor department says. “Growing Green: The Potential for Green Job Growth in Tennessee” was prepared by the Research and Statistics Unit of the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development’s Employment Security Division and released to the Governor’s Task Force on Energy Policy.

Read more: Report: Tenn. could add 45,000 green jobs - Nashville Business Journal (January 2009)

PRIVATE SECTOR

…spending federal stimulus money to start the Tennessee Solar Institute at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. It will focus on basic science and industry partnerships to improve the affordability and efficiency of solar products. The state also is building the West Tennessee Solar Farm at the Haywood County industrial mega-site. One of the largest such installations in the Southeast, it will serve as a demonstration tool for educational, research and economic-development purposes.

Tennessee landed its third major solar energy business investment in a year with officials announcing Thursday that St. Louis-based Confluence Solar would build a $200 million plant near Knoxville, creating 250 new jobs. (The City Paper, Nashville, January 2010)

Private, public and education

April 23, 2010 - The Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency unveils solar installation at Parthenon Towers, a first for community-owned housing in Tennessee. This solar installation will make MDHA the Nashville Electric Service's largest solar energy generator in Davidson County.The Mayor's Green Ribbon Committee on Environmental Sustainability was created to assure that Nashville continues to be a livable city with clean air, clean water, open spaces, transportation infrastructure and an energy use profile necessary to provide a prosperous community for current and future generations. (April, 2009) http://www.nashville.gov/mayor/green_ribbon/index.asp

Public Sector

Plans for 2011?The Tennessee Green Jobs Act, SB  3120, HB 3654, aimed at creating green jobs using federal funding in the state’s counties with the highest unemployment rates, was considered by legislature. The primary sponsors of the Act were Sen. Andy Berke and Representatives Mike Stewart and Brenda Gilmore. (No action after April, 2010)

The program will be funded with $1.4 million of a $2.9 million energy training partnership the Bioworks Foundation received from the Green Jobs Training Program through the U.S. Department of Labor earlier this year. Southwest will use some of the funds to purchase equipment that will be used in classes…will include courses on alternative energy such as solar and wind power.

Memphis Bioworks Foundation is partnering with Southwest Tennessee Community College to create a green training program that will train local students for green jobs.(Memphis Business Journal, July 2010)

The solar hot water installation features 300 solar collectors and produces and stores nearly 14,000 gallons of hot water a day for domestic use. Funding for the $1.88 million solar farm was provided through the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant program.A new solar farm will soon enable Tennessee’s Knox County officials to harvest sunshine to meet the hot water demands at the county’s 1,036-bed detention facility. Officials anticipate that the new solar thermal system, one of the nation’s largest for domestic hot water according to FLS Energy – the solar company with which Trane worked on the project – will save $60,000 a year in natural gas expenses and reduce CO2 emissions by 174 tons annually. (July, 2010 – Solar Thermal Magazine) http://www.solarthermalmagazine.com/2010/07/13/tennessee-jail-house-switches-to-solar-thermal-energy-to-save-money-on-natural-gas/

October 2010: The group held a kickoff meeting in Nashville last month and will become an official chapter of the National Solar Energy Association.As solar expands its footprint in Tennessee, a new industry group is organizing to make sure the renewable technology continues on a growth curve in the state.Known as the Tennessee Solar Energy Industries Association, or TenneSEIA, the group has 22 member commitments, ranging from large manufacturers like Sharp and Hemlock Semiconductor to local installers.http://www.eteda.org/news/show/330

Tennessee Department of Labor Conducts Green Jobs Survey (Results, Spring 2011)The Department of Labor and Workforce Development was awarded the $765,000 Tennessee Recovery Act Labor Market Information Improvement Grant to collect and disseminate data on the state’s growing green economy.  The Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development’s Labor Market Information Director Joe Cummings stresses the importance for businesses to complete the brief questionnaire. “For this information to be reliable, we need as many employers to participate as possible. Data obtained from the survey will assist workforce policy makers in determining appropriate training for the provision of a skilled workforce to support Tennessee’s expanding green businesses.” (TN.GOV, http://news.tennesseeanytime.org/node/5438, June, 2010)

Survey Form Options: Administrative Support, Waste Management and

Remediation Agriculture and Natural Resources

Construction Management of Companies

Manufacturing Other Services Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services Public Administration Transportation Utilities Wholesale and Retail Trade

Where are the jobs for Tennessee?Short and Long-term Projections (page 34)http://www.tn.gov/labor-wfd/Publications/EmploymentSecurity/AnnualWorkforceReport2010.pdf\

“The largest industry sectors in Tennessee are education and health services at about 600 thousand and trade, transportation, and utilities at about 570 thousand.”

“Health care and social assistance as well as arts, entertainment, and recreation are expected to increase strongly. Additionally, accommodation, and food services; educational services; other services; professional, scientific, and technical services; and agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting are expected to increase significantly.”

“The detailed industry with the highest expected growth is transportation equipment manufacturing at 6.0 percent (Table 12, page 40). Ambulatory health care services, support activities for transportation, and waste management and remediation services are expected to grow at 4.2, 4.0, and 3.9 percent per year respectively.”

Environmental

health technicians?

Community-based training programs

Targeting populations for training

Targeting populations for hiring

Targeting entrepreneurs?

Will everyone be seeing the ‘green’?

Insuring low-income and under-represented populations have full access to the opportunities of a new greener economy.

COWS and the City of Milwaukee are working with a host of others to retrofit building stock. This project allows property owners and renters to implement energy efficiency measures with immediate savings and no upfront costs.

Uses public money and private capital for the work. Costs are repaid via charges on utility bills.

Milwaukee Energy Efficiency (Me2)ProgramElissa BergerMe2 Coordinatoreberger@cows.org

Electric customers can install solar photovoltaic systems and sell all the electricity that they produce directly to the area utility.

Gainesville’s Solar Feed-In Tariff ProgramHarry KegelmannAdvanced Solar TechnologiesAst-solar.com

www.gru.com

FROM THEIR WEBISTE:

Solar Richmond is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2006 in Richmond, California. Our mission is to catalyze transformative change the deepens the connection between people, place, and planet.

As a social enterprise, we accomplish this mission by providing solar installation training to Richmond residents and to youth in Richmond, Berkeley and Oakland through the East Bay Green Jobs Corps. We offer transitional employment and staffing services in the solar industry with the aim of connecting our graduates with family-supporting green-collar career jobs. For home, business and nonprofit building owners we guide you through the solar process and help you use your consumer power to ensure that installation companies use local green-collar labor from Solar Richmond’s pool of graduate installers.

Our goal is to create a more inclusive job market that creates more opportunities for low-income and underemployed local residents. We work to foster healthier, safer and more sustainable communities, breaking down barriers of race and class as we participate in the green economy.

Solar Richmondhttp://www.solarrichmond.net/Michele McGeoy256 24th StreetRichmond, CA 94804510-253-2222

From their website:

Women In Non Traditional Employment Roles, Inc. (WINTER) is a non-profit economic development agency and a national leader in diversity workforce development and education. WINTER is the only non-traditional employment organization for women and youth serving Southern California since 1996.

The WINTERGreen Program is a social enterprise component of Women In Non Traditional Employment Roles, a non-profit organization dedicated to building a pipeline of diverse, well-qualified women for career opportunities in the environmental remediation and green retrofit fields.  WINTERGreen provides certified training and employment to women to green their communities as they learn to perform valuable work and improve their work skills. 

WINTERhttp://www.winterwomen.org/

Alexandra Torres Galancid3655 South Grand Avenue, Suite 210 Los Angeles, CA 90007atgalancid@winterwomen.orgTel. 213-749-3970

FRESH ENERGY(from VWW webiste)

FRESH ENERGY is a social enterprise that seeks to train and employ women in the fields of construction, efficiency and renewable energy.

Vermont Works for Women is performing this work in partnership and as a subcontractor to J.A. Morrissey (JAM), a commercial construction company founded and operated by Jeanne A. Morrissey.

In 2008, VWW approached JAM to be our partner in working with All Earth Renewables (formerly known as Earth Turbines). Initially, FRESH ENERGY will operate as a subcontractor to JAM, deriving its business primarily or fully through contracts established in concert with All Earth Renewables and Burlington's Northgate affordable housing community.

Participants will be cross-trained to perform weatherization work and install solar trackers and will perform both jobs throughout the program (though some participants may well gravitate to one or the other as they gain experience).

Vermont Works for Womenhttp://www.nnetw.org/

Tiffany Bluemle32A Malletts Bay Ave.Winooski, VT 05404 phone: 802.655.8900fax: 802.655.8922toll free: 800.639.1472

Working with the U.S. Department of Laabor Women’s Bureau, ACC set out to increase the enrollment of women in its courses (both continuing education and college credit) related to energy efficiency, renewable energy, and green building. ACC offered two sections of its entry-level solar photovoltaic installer course taught by women instructors, for women.

Austin Community College

http://www.austincc.edu/green/

Shelley Attix Coordinator, ACC Women In Green Jobs Campaign Highland Business Center - HBC 401.10 sattix@austincc.edu Voice: (512) 223.7517 Fax: (512) 223.7030

The program worked with 20-25 women in the Atlanta area who were interested in own their own green business. The program was scheduled to conclude at the end of September, 2010. This 36-week program covered energy efficiency and business plan writing among other topics.

Women Going Greenhttp://www.3dmeinc.com/womengoingreen.html

Danny McGinnisRosalind McGinnisFairburn, GA678-379-8138

What are other Governments Doing?

Governments can: Enact laws, ordinances Use administrative powers Enforce executive orders Use the bully pulpit

The Federal Government President Obama ordered the plans last October in

Executive Order 13514 (sustainability plans for federal agencies) The order required agencies to reduce direct

greenhouse gas pollution 28 percent over 2008 levels by 2020 and to cut indirect emissions, such as those released in commuting and landfill waste generated by agencies, by 13 percent during the same period

Green Jobs Act of 2007 American Recovery & Reinvestment Act Women WIN Act (expands WANTO)

Did you know? Office of Civil Rights’ On-the-Job-Training and

Supportive Services http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/aaa/gtup.htm Competitive grants to state highway departments. Purpose: increase employment of “minorities, women

and disadvantaged individuals” in transportation jobs. Includes recruitment, skills training, job placement,

child care, outreach, transportation to work sites, pre-employment assessment, mediation and counseling.

“Pipeline” programs may include transportation-related internships, cooperative education, post-secondary support activities.

½ of 1% of all Federal DoT dollars MAY be used by governors to train under-represented populations

What else? Strengthen the Office of Federal

Contract Compliance Programs (OFFCP) at U.S. DoL

Regulations could give preference to contractors who – Maximize the hiring of disadvantaged

groups, including “individuals for whom construction is nontraditional employment”

State of Hawaii The state is driving the adoption of

electric and alternate vehicles through a variety of mandates and grants.

State and county agencies buying new vehicles are required to give priority to electric vehicles, alternative-fuel vehicles and hybrids.

This started in February of 2010.

State of Massachusetts o H4253 was passed into law in late 2009.o It authorizes grants to the

Massachusetts technology transfer center to fund activities that facilitate the transfer of technology from the commonwealth’s research institutions to the commonwealth’s clean energy industries.

State of New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson signed an executive order

that outlines the state’s course to building a comprehensive green economy in January of 2010.

The Green Jobs Cabinet identified five immediate goals for the state to realize its full greeneconomy potential, including:

To become a leader in renewable energy export. To become the center of the North American solar industry.

This includes everything from research and development to manufacturing to the installation of solar elements in our buildings.

To lead the nation in Green Grid innovation. To continue being a leader in green building and energy

efficiency. To have an educational system that prepares New Mexico

students for jobs in green technologies.

State of New York The Green Jobs / Green New York Act

authorized a program to direct funding to communities, homes, small businesses and not-for-profits to develop a workforce with a goal of conducting one million energy efficient building retrofits over five years (started 2010).

State of Ohio Mapping Green

Career Pathways: Job Training Infrastructure and Opportunities in Ohio (January 2010)

While this diagram is from Ohio, the Center for Wisconsin Strategy (COWS) also has a green careers pathways model.

The Ohio report offers several sound policy recommendations

Invest in solid, credible data collection and dissemination so information about existing green-collar jobs and growth potential can be easily accessed

Better integrate environmental, economic, and workforce goals at the federal, state and local levels so new training programs are driven by actual job growth

Aware public grants and contracts for green projects that create linkages to training opportunities; prioritize partnerships between training providers, unions, employers, WIBs

Address barriers to access and retention in construction and manufacturing trades

And more

2010 Legislative Action According to the NCSL, 29 states introduced

legislation relating to the creation of green jobs in 2010.

Twenty-nine states/territories introduced legislation or have pending legislation:

Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Florida, Hawaii,  Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.

State of Colorado H.B. 1333 – “Green Jobs Colorado

Training Pilot Program” Enacted (6/11/10)

Summary: Creates the Green Jobs Colorado Training Program to ensure that future workforce supply can meet the increasing demand for green job skills in a “new energy economy.”

State of Connecticut H.B. 5164 – “Green Jobs” Enacted (6/8/10) Summary: Provides for new academic degree and

certification programs related to the green jobs industry. Further, provides for courses of instruction and initiatives to align green job programs with employer needs.

H.B. 5435 – “Small Business Pre-seed Financing” Enacted (5/6/10)

Summary: Provides loan forgiveness or reimbursement for state students with majors in the “green technology business” (cap is $10,000 residents with a bachelor’s degree and $5,000 for residents with an associate’s degree). “Green technology business” is defined as an eligible business with not less than 25% of its employment positions being positions in which green technology is employed or developed.

State of Virginia H.B. 803 – “Green Jobs Tax Credit” Enacted (4/13/10) (Ch. 727) Summary: Allows an income tax credit for the creation of

green jobs for taxable years beginning on and after January 1, 2010; provides that each taxpayer is allowed a credit for up to a specified number of new green jobs and may qualify for the Enterprise Zone Grant Program if the job is locate in an enterprise zone.

S.B. 623 – “Income Tax” Enacted (4/13/10) (Ch. 722) Summary: Allows a $500 income tax credit for the creation of

green jobs for taxable years beginning on and after January 1, 2010.

S.B. 1357 Enacted 4/2010 (Ch. 730) Summary: Expands the Clean Fuel Vehicle Job Creation Tax

Credit to include jobs created associated with the production of cellulosic biofuels, the conversion of vehicles from traditional fuels to cellulosic biofuels, and the manufacture of components for vehicles that utilize cellulosic biofuels.

State of Washington H.B. 2420 – “Working Land Base” Enacted

(3/24/10) (Ch. 187) Summary: Requires the Employment Security

Department to conduct an analysis of occupations in the forest products industry; require the Department of Commerce and the Workforce Training and Education Coordinating Board to identify barriers to the growth of green jobs in the traditional industries such as the forest products industry.

Mayors Meet During a two day meeting in

Washington, DC the week of September 20th, 50 mayors met to discuss national policies including: Transportation, Infrastructure, Community Development Block Grants (CDBG), Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grants (EECBG), green job creation and small business.

From Tennessee: Ron Littlefield, Chattanooga, TN

Minnesota Mayors Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak and Saint Paul Mayor Chris

Coleman are teaming up to support and attract environmentally-sound manufacturing to the area with an initiative called Thinc.Green MSP. This is being done in cooperation with the Blue Green Alliance.

Thinc.GreenMSP will immediately begin implementing five initiatives to drive demand for locally-produced green products and services, as well as for the highly-skilled workers who make those products and deliver those services. The Initiatives are: Buy Green: Local Government Green Purchasing

Partnership Green Town: Incentives for the Built Environment Re:Purpose: Match Existing Industrial Zones with Green

Assets Early-Stage Financing: Finance Program through Local

Investment Bank Thinc.Leader: Recognition Program for Local Businesses

Texas Mayors… The head of the Houston mayor's office of

sustainability launched The Green Office Challenge in September 2010.

This is a year-long initiative aimed at property owners and tenants in six of Houston's management districts. The program provides workshops and other resources to make workplaces greener — including a low-interest energy-efficient loan program for smaller projects.

The goal is for participants to reduce their energy use, water use and waste while encouraging employees to carpool and recycle. In return, those who make the most significant strides will be recognized publicly by the mayor's office.

http://houston.bizjournals.com/houston/stories/2010/09/27/tidbits1.html?b=1285560000^3986941&s=industry&i=green

Other places to look… The Scandinavian American Economic

Development Alliance held a major Trade Mission in August of 2010 which included companies from Scandinavia visiting the six state region that the Alliance serves.

The companies were in the alternative energy, sustainability, and clean technology industries. Scandinavia claims to be the world's leader in these disciplines. States in the coalition are Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee.

Students Mobilizing? The Southeast Student Renewable Energy Conference

(SSREC) was started in 2004, and over the past six years it has brought together hundreds of students from across the South to learn organizing skills, network, and return to their campuses motivated and ready to promote a clean energy future. They most recently met in Athens, GA at the beginning of

October, 2010. the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy is supporting

campus campaigns for clean energy, building state networks to leverage student power beyond campus and connecting campuses and communities that are working on energy issues. Most of our work takes place in Tennessee through the Tennessee Campus Program and in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida through the Southern Energy Network Their website is http://www.cleanenergy.org/index.php?/

Learn-About-Campus-Action.html

On-going challenges

Supply vs. demand Training workers in ‘where are the jobs’ world Demand for products and services

The ‘costs’ of going green Military leaders cite challenges in going green (Federal

Times, October 2010) Federal agency reports prove progress and cite challenges

in meeting executive order (nextgov.com, September 2010)

Financial pressures – businesses Financial pressures -- households

Equitable access to green jobs and business opportunities Building inclusive economy Creating jobs and career paths that lead to economic

security Jobs recession, cash recession

Looking forward

Green Jobs Guide for Women A publication of the U.S. Department of

Labor, Women’s Bureau A joint project of Wider Opportunities for

Women and Public Policy Associates, Inc.

Due out later this year (2010) Webinars have accompanied production

– available on the Women’s Bureau webiste www.dol.gov/wb

WOW’s GREEN INSTITUTE Coming to the Southeast Builds on model tested in DC with

nation-wide reach at end of 2009 With thanks to the Ms. Foundation for

Women

Spring 2011

Donna AddkisonFamily Economic Security Program DirectorWider Opportunities for Women

daddkison@wowonline.org(202) 464-1596