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Monday, May 11, 2009 Michigan Green Economic Job Base Growing
LANSING - Michigan has 109,067 jobs tied to the green economy, and that number is growing, state and federal officials said on the release of a study by the Department of Energy, Labor and Economic Growth. Based on surveys of 358 of those green economy companies, there was 7.7 percent employment growth in the sector between 2005 and 2008, the Michigan Green Jobs Report said, while the rest of the state's economy lost 5.4 percent of its jobs. The sector now accounts for about 3 percent of the state's workforce, said DELEG Deputy Director Andy Levin at a media event during the Michigan Green Jobs Conference in Lansing. "It's a hotbed of entrepreneurial activity," Levin said of the sector. He said the results from the study are prior to the state adopting its renewable portfolio standard and other efforts to encourage renewable energy development. "You are at ground zero of the new economy that will define the new century," said Van Jones, President Barack Obama's special advisor on green jobs, enterprise and innovation. "We'll either create the jobs of the future in the industrial heartland or we'll create no jobs at all." Jones said Obama's primary focus in his environmental plan is creating jobs. "We finally have a president who understands we can have high economic performance protecting the environment," Jones said. "Everything that we have to do to retrofit the country so we waste less energy ...is a job." Granholm, in later remarks to the conference, said, "The growth trajectory is huge as long as the policy is right. The opportunity for us to lead the nation in being green is very bright." Jones particularly praised Granholm for her efforts to attract new battery production, an effort he said no other governor was undertaking. "It's no advance if we go from importing oil from the Middle East to importing batteries from Asia.” But the state survey showed the green jobs effort is still not moving far from the state's old base. The largest portion of the jobs, 25,780, were in transportation equipment manufacturing. Professional, scientific and technical services jobs followed closely at 22,178. Levin said the majority of those green jobs pay more than the state average wage of $811 per week. Among the 15 general sectors within the report's definition of green jobs, only two paid less than that and eight paid more than $1,000 a week. But the report also noted that many of the jobs require special skills and so will require some level of job training to fill. "There's no question we don't have enough job training money," Levin said. But he said prioritizing its use can ensure enough money to cover the training needs in that sector. Among the jobs expected to see growth in the coming three years are heating and cooling mechanics and installers, mechanical engineers and civil engineers. Nearly half the businesses surveyed expected hiring in those areas by 2011. But where they expected to have the most difficulty hiring was farm and nursery workers (29 percent) and sales representatives (23 percent). This story was provided by Gongwer News Service. To subscribe, click on Gongwer.Com
Author: Staff Writer Source: Gongwer News Service
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