The Austin Chamber of Commerce along with the Texas Foundation for Innovative Communities (TFIC) has announced that Austin will be the location of the first Texas Clean Energy Park (TCEP). The Texas Workforce Commission has awarded $600,000 to the TFIC which will be used for the development of an Austin-based clean energy campus dedicated to development and innovation in business, research, education and training for the clean energy industry.

“The addition of the first Texas Clean Energy Park will provide excellent job growth opportunities for Austin as well as Central Texas,” said Jose Beceiro, Director of Clean Energy, Austin Chamber of Commerce. “Developing efficient new clean energy technologies side by side with innovative applications will be significant in fostering development of the clean energy industry.”

This collaborative effort will be divided into two aspects. The first is a research park led by the TFIC which will strive to recruit industry experts to the area, in turn allowing the acceleration of Austin’s ability to enhance the industry workforce. The second phase of the TCEP will be a business park that will include companies such as HelioVolt, which has the option to locate any of its research and development facilities and additional operations inside the park.

"Through the TCEP initiative, the Austin Chamber of Commerce and the State of Texas have demonstrated their dedication to promoting a local, thriving center of clean energy innovation and job creation," said B.J. Stanbery, founder and CEO of HelioVolt. "As anchor tenant in the TCEP's new R&D facility, HelioVolt expects to be joined by a collaborative community of academic and industrial partners in developing the future of smart, sustainable solar powered architecture."

The TFIC will partner with research institutions across the country, corporations throughout the industry and other experts within the field in an effort to develop Texas’ human resource and knowledge base, creating a collaborative campus where clean energy businesses can flourish. The addition of the TCEP raises the prospect of state and federal funding for talent and research development as well as bringing in another positive asset for attracting clean energy companies from across the state, the nation and the world.

The Austin Chamber of Commerce through the creation of the Clean Energy Development Council has worked closely with the TFIC, Gov. Rick Perry’s office and the General Land Office to expand the TCEP model. Support of the project was given by Austin Energy as well as the Clean Energy Incubator, a program of the Austin Technology Incubator and the IC2 Institute at the University of Texas.

Opportunity Austin, the Chamber’s five-year economic development initiative to create 72,000 new jobs and increase payroll in the Central Texas region by $2.9 million in five years, has already surpassed its goals with an addition of nearly 100,000 new jobs since the program’s inception in 2004.