| About the Green Jobs Initiative
Opportunity Austin
In the fall of 2007 the Austin Chamber of Commerce unveiled its five year economic development plan, Opportunity Austin 2.0, for the Austin-Round Rock five-county region. The plan, “Taking it to the Next Level,” prepared by Market Street Services, identified as a core economic development cluster “green industries.” Specifically, the plan highlighted the attraction and retention of businesses included in the development and manufacturing of products such as solar panels, fuel cells, wind turbines and electric cars as well as clean energy and green products in general – all broad targets which encompass a wide variety of energy efficient and renewable energy businesses.
Task Force
As was the case in past successful Central Texas economic development efforts, including software and semiconductors, the availability of a skilled and highly productive workforce is critical to the success of this economic development effort, but more significantly to enable well-paying jobs and career opportunities for Central Texans and a sustainable, broadly shared prosperity for our region. To that end, in February 2009 the Austin Chamber began efforts to coordinate a community wide approach to green job education and training. The Chamber’s Business Retention & Expansion team, under the direction of Jack McDonald, the Chamber’s 2009 Vice Chair for Technology and Chairman of the AusTech Alliance, coordinated a “Green Job” Task Force to coordinate regional workforce training issues for the Austin-Round Rock MSA around the numerous opportunities in the renewable and energy efficiency sectors.
The goal of this task force was to coordinate regional efforts to train and/or retrain up to 25,000 Central Texas residents for “green jobs” to complement the economic development attraction targets and existing industry base in the region and assist with re-employment of the approximately 51,500 Central Texas workers currently unemployed as of April 2009.
Regional Initiatives
The Austin region has undertaken several key initiatives which enhance the region’s opportunities in relation to the clean energy sector. In February 2007 the City of Austin passed a Climate Protection Plan with the goal of making Austin the leading city in the nation in the fight against global warming. The region is also home to Austin Energy, the municipally owned utility whose green efforts have long been recognized in municipal power generation. The Pecan Street Project, launched in 2008, has the goal to design the energy system of the future, using the City of Austin as a clean energy laboratory. The University of Texas at Austin is also engaged in several strategic technology efforts, including The Center for Commercialization of Electric Technologies and the Clean Energy Incubator as a division of the Austin Technology Incubator. Lastly the Texas Foundation for Innovative Communities, a nonprofit organization created in conjunction with a Texas Clean Energy Park, also plays a key role in attracting and developing green jobs for our region.
Green Jobs Report
This report is a Community Roadmap that identifies, defines and sizes green collar job opportunities specifically for our region, as well as identifies the training providers and funding opportunities. The definition of a green job is broad, but is typically related to two key areas – Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. While new jobs will definitely be created in relation to these areas, many existing jobs - for example those in the construction industry – will require new skill sets. Both these new and existing jobs range from those requiring an apprenticeship, professional certificate or one to two years of training to jobs which require an advanced degree. Training, under the leadership of Workforce Solutions - Capital Area Workforce Board, can be provided by a variety of existing regional institutions or organizations including, but not limited to, Austin Community College, Texas State Technical College, Alamo Colleges, and The University of Texas – Austin. There are also many other regional training providers which are imperative to this initiative including Skillpoint Alliance, American YouthWorks, Austin Area Urban League, Austin Electrical JATC , Sheet Metal Workers Local 67, Digital Workplace Academy, and Texas HERO.
Funding opportunities for this initiative are highlighted by additional federal dollars provided through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) which passed Congress in February of this year. This federal stimulus bill dedicated about $1 billion toward green jobs training efforts, including $500 million in funding for training the RE and EE sectors as defined in the Green Jobs Act of 2007. Some of these dollars will flow through typical state formulas and some will be made available for competitive bids. While each regional organization will move forward independently in their request for funds, the institutions and agencies can cite a community wide roadmap to enhance the viability of their requests. This shared vision, collaboration and leveraging of funds will enhance opportunities for the entire region.
Task Force Recommendations
The Task Force concluded with two key recommendations. The first recommendation is a regional and national public relations strategy in relation to green job opportunities that will be coordinated by the Austin Chamber’s Clean Energy Council. For the second recommendation Texas Foundation for Innovative Communities would utilize their regional business council as a permanent steering committee for these green job opportunities and information. With regional workforce oversight, the Workforce Solutions – Capital Area Workforce Board, will function in a collaborative role providing coordination to this group on activities and initiatives.
It is the Chamber’s desire that the regional effort which led to this report, and the execution of the plan contemplated within, will accelerate the development of the green industries cluster in our region and, most importantly, provide meaningful, long-term and secure career opportunities for Central Texans.
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