Funds Secured Through Green Jobs Partnership Created by Governor’s 2009 Executive Order
Governor M. Jodi Rell today announced the state will receive $3.36 million in federal stimulus funds to help train and educate the state’s “green collar” workforce for careers in emerging renewable and clean energy industries.
The funds will support programs developed and coordinated by the Connecticut Green Jobs Partnership, a public-private labor and education consortium, created by the Governor’s Executive Order No 23.
“The opportunities for economic and job growth in energy sector “green” industries are limitless,” Governor Rell said. “Connecticut continues to move forward in creating a vibrant workforce for the future, one that will attract new, new industries and will have the education and training in place to provide the skills needed.”
The state received the grant from the U.S. Department of Labor through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). Nearly $190 million in job training grants was awarded nationwide for energy sector job training and education.
The federal award will help the state pursue several key “green workforce” goals including:
Upgrading skills of displaced workers or those who jobs have been outsourced
Developing seamless set of pathways in green industries
Connecting green workforce development to related economic development efforts
Ensuring education curriculum and training capacity match needs of energy sector employers, focusing on four occupations and industries with growth potential:
Building Analyst (Target Industry: Energy Efficiency Assessment)
Green Manufacturing (Manufacturers using Environmentally Sustainable Processes and Materials)
Clean Water Technician (Environmental Protection)
Green Technology Training for Municipal Building Officials (Energy Efficiency Assessment Industry)
“Achieving the Partnership’s workforce development goals will help realize Governor Rell’s overall Energy Vision of lowering prices for consumers, becoming less reliant on foreign energy, fostering the use of environmentally sound technology and making the state a center for economic development and technological innovation in the energy sector,” said Mary Ann Hanley, from the Office for Workforce Competitiveness and a member of the Green Jobs Partnership.
In November, Connecticut was included in a $3.9 million federal stimulus grant to develop a “Green Job Bank” with seven other Northeastern states to serve as a comprehensive clearing house for careers in environmental technologies and training and educational opportunities.
Under Governor Rell’s leadership, Connecticut was one of the first states to develop a climate change action plan, create and participate in a regional auction to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and push for cleaner tailpipe exhaust from automobiles. Her comprehensive energy vision that she outlined in 2006, calls for 20 percent of all energy used or sold in the state to come from clean or renewable resources by 2020.
On February 3, 2009, Governor Rell today issued an executive order that establishes guidelines to train and develop Connecticut’s green collar workforce. Among the highlights of Executive Order 23:
The Commissioners of the Department of Economic and Community Development and the Department of Labor to jointly plan for growth of green industries and identify those jobs that will qualify as “green jobs;”
The Connecticut Employment and Training Commission to create and chair a Green Collar Jobs Council comprising the Departments of Education, Higher Education, Environmental Protection, Labor and Economic and Community Development, the Energy Workforce Development Consortium and representatives of business and industry;
The Community College System to collaborate with its public and private partners, including the Energy Workforce Development Consortium, to expedite the creation of 8 certificate credit programs and training of 320 students within the next two years.
For more information on the Green Jobs Partnership and other stimulus initiatives in the state visit: visit CT Recovery link.
Link to Executive Order 23: http://www.ct.gov/governorrell/cwp/view.asp?A=1719&Q=433292 Published by the Connecticut Department of Labor, Project Management Office
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