New England Clean Energy Council's Energy Workforce Summit Focused on Meeting Demand for the Fast-Growing Regional Clean Energy Industry
DATELINE: CAMBRIDGE, Mass.
The New England Clean Energy Council, representing clean energy leaders from a wide variety of area organizations, companies and universities, announced that it is sponsoring and hosting an event to accelerate development of a workforce to meet the needs of a rapidly growing clean energy industry. Clean energy --- technology and services that support energy efficiency and renewable fuels, while reducing greenhouse gas pollution - is poised to become the State's 10th largest industry sector based on a recent Clean Energy Census, performed by the Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust and Global Insight.
The Census showed that the Massachusetts' clean energy cluster already supports 14,400 jobs and is projected to grow at over 20% per year - over three times faster than any other sector. It also indicates that the sector is quite broad-based, with a number of clean energy businesses in the Berkshires, around Springfield & Worcester, and up and down the Massachusetts coastline. Moreover, jobs in renewables, efficiency and demand-side management require workers at every level of the economic spectrum, running the gamut from Ph.D. researchers to solar panel installers, energy auditors, and maintenance technicians for wind turbines.
The Workforce Summit, taking place today in conjunction with the Conference on Clean Energy at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston, will provide industry, educational, labor and public leaders a forum to collaborate on worker education and training priorities, recruiting strategies, and public policy recommendations that encourage talented workers to build long and rich careers in New England.
Stephen L. Cowell, CEO of Conservation Services Group (CSG), a board member and sponsor of the Council said, "We are excited to be working with the Council to create a new workforce development program. To help jump-start the Council's industry-wide effort, CSG is establishing a $50,000 fund to support internships and work study programs at our company. We hope that other firms consider similar programs to support growth of this industry sector. Early workforce training and development is key and CSG is very excited to be involved with the Summit and the newly formed Council."
Annie Johnson, Co-executive Director of the Council and Greg Watson, Senior Advisor at Massachusetts' Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, will open the meeting, after which Suzanne Bump, Massachusetts' Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development, will address the invitation-only audience. These keynotes will be followed by panel sessions during the morning, an address by Governor Deval Patrick and afternoon workshops, facilitated by Jay Vogt of Peoplesworth. Featured speakers include:
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Rob Pratt, Henry P. Kendall Foundation
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Bill Prindle, ACEEE
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Stephen Cowell, Conservation Services Group
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Marty Aikens, IBEW Local 103
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Karl Jessen, Massachusetts Technology Collaborative
The Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, the Third Annual Conference on Clean Energy, Conservation Services Group and Greenfield Community College are sponsors of the Summit.
About the New England Clean Energy Council
The New England Clean Energy Council represents a diverse set of stakeholders from many different groups, including industry, associations, area utilities, local universities, labor and large commercial end-users. The Council's ranks include 30 CEOs of the region's leading clean energy companies, partners from half of the State's top 10 law firms, and partners from over a dozen of the top New England venture capital firms, with a total of over $8 billion under management.
The Council's mission is to accelerate New England's clean energy economy to global leadership by building an active community of stakeholders and a world-class cluster of clean energy companies.
CONTACT: Fama PR
Greg Wind, 617-758-4173
necec@famapr.com