State & Stakeholder Newsletter, December 1, 2010
Wednesday, December 1, 2010 Volume #9, Issue #24 Editor: Jane Pulaski The IREC State & Stakeholder Newsletter is a foremost resource for current information on green workforce training, credentialing programs, state activities and best practices on renewable energy and energy efficiency. This free newsletter is distributed semi-monthly to email subscribers and published on IREC’s website. If…
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Volume #9, Issue #24
Editor: Jane Pulaski
The IREC State & Stakeholder Newsletter is a foremost resource for current information on green workforce training, credentialing programs, state activities and best practices on renewable energy and energy efficiency. This free newsletter is distributed semi-monthly to email subscribers and published on IREC’s website. If you have comments or if you would like to submit a news item, email Jane Pulaski. To subscribe to this newsletter, click here and follow the instructions.
If you want the best news about what’s going on in the states and cities, read the State & Stakeholder Newsletter (December 1, 2010).
From the editor…
Jobs, jobs, jobs…
As I was getting ready to write this column, I couldn’t help but notice the number of articles about jobs in this particular issue. Despite gloomy predictions of continued job losses and economic distress, growth in the solar job market continues to buck that trend. According to the 2010 National Solar Jobs Census from our friends at The Solar Foundation, solar companies expect to add jobs at a pace that is much faster than the general economy. What’s more, solar businesses are highly optimistic regarding their overall revenue growth over the near term.
Want to know more?
If you haven’t already, register for the upcoming IREC webinar on workforce development on Thursday, 12/2 (there’s no charge). Three of today’s leading experts, including Andrea Luecke, Executive Director of The Solar Foundation, will discuss trends and resources (like the National Solar Jobs Census) in this dynamic and rapidly evolving space. Joining Andrea will be Joe.Sarubbi, newly-designated project manager for the National Administrator of the Solar Instructor Training Network, and Pat Fox, IREC’s ISPQ Program Manager, to discuss training trends, credentialing programs and IREC’s resources. Stick around for the Q&A.
From New York, NYSERDA’s Career Pathways Program, offered through community colleges, BOCES, private training providers, trade unions, and CBOs, is training historically unemployed individuals in energy-related fields and graduates from this training are now employed. Also from NYS, the 2010 update of its Green Jobs – Green New York program—what’s happened during the past year.
IREC’s Executive Direcor, Jane Weissman, will present about clean energy credentialing at the 4th Green Jobs Good Jobs National Conference in Washington, D.C., set for February 8-10, 2011.
And in March, the 4th National Clean Energy Workforce Education Conference will be held in Saratoga Springs, NY. If you’re an educator training today’s green workforce, this is the place to find out what’s happening with instructional strategies, curricula development, credentialing, and best practices for training in the renewable energy and energy efficiency fields. I know it’s December, but registration just opened (early bird rates good through 2/1/11). The Preliminary Program and pre-conference workshops are already on the IREC website. Take a peek. IREC is the primary conference organizer; NYSERDA is the primary sponsor.
Like I said, it’s jobs, jobs, jobs, and the news is good.
Hope to see you at some of these events.
Best,

P.S. Changes coming to the State & Stakeholder Newsletter…more on that in the 12/15/10 issue. Stay tuned…