Green Jobs in the Louisiana Forest Sector Supply-Chain

Ryan D. Olson, Richard P. Vlosky, Paul M. Darby, and Dek Terrell

Forest Products Society 65th International ConventionJune 19-21, 2011Portland, Oregon

Outline

• What are Green Jobs?

• The Louisiana Forest Sector

• Study Objectives

• Methodology

• Results

• Conclusions

Overview of Green Jobs• Green jobs are well-paying

• Green jobs tend to be local jobs

• Green jobs contribute directly to preserving or enhancing environmental quality

• Green jobs provide pathways out of poverty

• Green jobs require some new skills

Source: http://www.greenforall.org/resources/green-collar-jobs-overview

Green Job Activity Categories

• Education, Public Awareness, and Compliance

• Energy Efficiency

• Green Certification*

• Greenhouse Gas Reduction

• Pollution Reduction and Cleanup

• Recycling and Waste Reduction

• Renewable Energy

*Unique to our studySource: U.S. Department of Labor

Green Jobs Definitions

• A green job is defined by its involvement in a green activity – one that helps protect or restore the environment or conserve natural resources.

• A primary green job is one that has a primary focus on a green activity.

Source: Louisiana & Mississippi Green Job Consortium

Green Jobs Definitions

Green jobs are:

• 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.

Source: Louisiana & Mississippi Green Job Consortium

Green Job Category Activities

Green Job Category Accurate Green Job Activities• Education, Public Awareness and Compliance

• Certification Training Director

• Energy Efficiency• New Product Development for Home Insulation

• Green Certification • LEED Coordinator

• Greenhouse Gas Reduction• Carbon Capture and Sequestration Research

• Pollution Reduction and Clean-Up•Manage Facility’s Storm Water Run-off

• Recycling and Waste Reduction•Manufacture Products from Recycled Materials

• Renewable Energy • Fuel Grinding Operation

Examples of accurate green job activities

Green Job Category Activities

Green Job Category Inaccurate Green Job Activities• Education, Public Awareness and Compliance

• Safety Officer

• Energy Efficiency • Every Employee Turns off the Lights at Night

• Green Certification • A Fork-Lift Operator in a Company with an FSC Chain-of-Custody Certificate

• Greenhouse Gas Reduction • Hybrid Fleet Bus Drivers

• Pollution Reduction and Clean-Up •Maintains Cleanliness of Repair Shop

• Recycling and Waste Reduction • Every Employee Participates in Office Recycling

• Renewable Energy• Every Employee in a Facility Using Solar Energy

Examples of inaccurate green job activities

Louisiana Forest Sector

• $3.1 billion economic impact in 2010

• 14 million acres of forestland (50% of land area)

• 148,000 forest landowners

• Private non-industrial ownership: 81%

• Forest products industries ownership: 10%

• Public ownership: 9%

Source: 2011 Louisiana Forestry Facts – Louisiana Forestry Association

Louisiana Forest SectorLouisiana’s second largest manufacturing employer: 12,694 jobs

Harvesting and transportation: 8,000 jobs

Source: 2011 Louisiana Forestry Facts – Louisiana Forestry Association

The Study

Funding from the U.S. Department of Labor

First study to examine green jobs in the LA forest sector supply chain

1. Characterize green jobs across activity categories2. Estimate the number of green jobs and wage impact in the

Louisiana forest products supply chain3. Predict growth potential in green jobs in the sector

Study Objectives

The Study

The sample frame for the study included all Louisiana companies in 53 NAICS code categories ranging from logging to newspaper publishers to home center retailers.

Forest landowners were not surveyed.

Data was purchased from Best Mailing Lists, a national provider.

The method of data collection was a mail survey questionnaire.

Survey procedures were conducted in accordance with the Tailored Design Method (Dillman 2000)

Louisiana Green Jobs Survey

7,740 surveys mailed, 2,761 were undeliverable, not appropriate, or unwilling to participate

251 usable surveys

Adjusted Response Rate=5.0%

Pre-Testing Questionnaires

Revision

1st Mailing

Pre-Notification Postcards

Second Mailing to Non-Respondents

Reminder Postcards

Percent of respondents by activity (n=251) (multiple responses possible)

Which activity/activities best describe your company’s position in the Louisiana forest products sector supply chain?

Respondent Demographics

Percent of respondents by operations (n=251) (multiple responses possible)

Which of the following operations does your company currently have located in Louisiana?

Respondent Demographics

Percent of Respondents by 2010 Revenue (n=230)

Respondent Demographics

Respondents are in 50 of 64 parishes in Louisiana (n=228)

Highlighted Parishes were represented by survey respondents

Red indicates the top 10 parishes by number of responses

Respondent Demographics

Actions and attitudes toward green activities and jobs(n=237)

Yes NoStatistically

sig. diff.Do you believe sustainability is important to your company? 80% 8% **

Do you believe green practices add value to your company? 53% 27% **

Have your customers ever requested green products? 46% 45%Has your company ever requested green products from a supplier?

42% 49%

Are green practices a priority to your company? 31% 58% **Does your company prefer suppliers with green certification? 25% 52% **Is your company willing to incur additional costs to provide green jobs?

15% 63% **

Results

*statistically different at α =0.05**statistically different at α =0.01

Correlations of Green Attitudes to Revenue, Full-time Employment, Current Green Jobs, and Green Jobs in Five Years

Mean of Green Attitudes*

Pearson Correlation Coefficient

Sig. (2-tailed)

n

Revenue 0.107 0.105 230

Full-time Employment 0.209 0.001 240

Current Green Jobs 0.309 0.000 232

Green Jobs in Five Years

0.337 0.000 229

Results

*green attitudes represent the mean response to the following questions:• Are green practices a priority to your company?• Do you believe sustainability is important to your company?• Do you believe green practices add value to your company?

(n=244)

Does your company have any current projects that may create green jobs?

Yes(24%)

Results

(n=238)

Do opportunities exist for current employees to move into a green job category?

Number of projects by category (n=244) (multiple responses possible)

If your company has projects that may create green jobs, please indicate which activities below best describe them.

Results

Results

Scale: 1=very unlikely; 2=somewhat unlikely; 3=neutral; 4=somewhat likely; 5=very likely (n=226)

Please indicate the likelihood of each of the following to spur green job creation within your company.

*statistically different at α =0.05**statistically different at α =0.01

(n=229)

Please estimate the percentage of your employees that currently have green jobs/will have green jobs in five years.

Results

Percent of Employees

Percent of accurate and inaccurate green job activity descriptions(n=166 descriptions)

Accurate(81%)

Results

•Maintains cleanliness of repair shop

• Safety advisor

• Carpenter

• Bundle cardboard for recycling

• SFI Certification•EHS manager

In the Louisiana forest products supply chain:

Avg. number of green jobs per company: 2.7

Number of companies: 4,968

Green jobs employment (est.): 13,199

Green jobs annual wages in 2010 (est.): $494.3 million*

Results

* Using Oregon average hourly wage rate for a forest sector green job of $18.73/hour as a proxy Source: www.qualityinfo.org/pubs/green/greening.pdf

Summary

• Nearly a half billion dollars in Green Job wages are estimated to have been paid to over 13,000 employees in 2010.

• There are misconceptions about the green job definitions.

• Education is necessary to ensure understanding of green jobs so the can be properly measured.

• Profitability and Government Incentives were the two strongest drivers of green job creation.

• On average, respondents expect the percent of employees with green jobs in their companies to increase 33% in the next 5years.

In the Louisiana Forest Sector Supply Chain……

Questions? Comments?Please Contact:Ryan D. Olson

Graduate Research AssistantLouisiana Forest Products Development CenterLouisiana State University Agricultural Center

Baton Rouge, LA 70803225.578.7015

rolson4@lsu.eduwww.lsu.edu/lfpdc