At Lakeshore Technical College on Thursday, senior associate from the Center on Wisconsin Strategy, Sarah White, gave a presentation on “Building Green Career Pathways in Wisconsin” for students, staff, and members of the larger Manitowok, Wisconsin community.

Her central point: “green” jobs can exist in all employment and business sectors, from manufacturing wind turbine components to sales of “green” products and services.

As I said in my previous post, last week, many of the green jobs of the near and distant future will be “green” by association rather than created by or creating green technology.

White, one of Wisconsin’s experts on jobs and the green economy, says we need to turn our attention now toward training and preparing people to enter or re-enter the workforce as the economy turns back upward, giving people the skills they will need for all types of jobs, including green jobs.

The schools in the technical college system, like Lakeshore Technical College, have a lot to do with that, according to White, as they can help employees of all ages avoid the “skills mismatch” that could happen as new jobs or repurposed positions are created or become available in the area.

“According to a COWS report, Wisconsin’s Department of Workforce Development projected that 77 percent of Wisconsin jobs available between 2004 and 2014 would not require a four-year degree.”

However, it’s equally important, White said, not to make training too “locally specific” or short term, as that would tend to limit workers’ ability to move up or to different employment opportunities.

Business development officer for Green Bay Electrical Workers labor Union, David Jungbluth, asked White, during the discussion after her presentation, to “forecast […] when jobs might emerge and how to train workers for them. Many electrical workers have received training in photovoltaics, or working with solar energy systems, he said, and are hoping for more work in that area.”

White’s response was simply that the economic recovery is taking longer than expected, based on past experience of recovery after a recession, though she didn’t offer any thoughts as to why that might be.

What she did do was reassert her firm belief that our best hope for the future is in creating a green economy, and that, though it may be difficult and it may take time, Wisconsin will be best served by building that green future on the businesses and industries already in operation.

“Let’s take what we have and green it up,” she says, and I couldn’t agree more.

Like so many other instances of real change and real progress, it is likely that the real recovery will begin and gain momentum among the middle class, everyday people of suburban neighborhoods and small communities like this one in Wisconsin, who are used to working together, making the best of what they have, and building on that to create something better.

What better place to start?

See you on the green.

Rebecca

See the article at htrnews.com for more on White’s presentation

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Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU)’s Students for Environmental Action (SEA), in conjunction with MTSU’s Career Development Center, will host their first ever Green Expo on the Keathley University Center Knoll this coming Wednesday, April 21, 2010.

One of several activities planned for Earth Month (April) and Earth Day (April 22), Conscientious Consumption Day, as the expo is being called is a combination of career and internship fair and environmental education programs.

Unlike most career and internship fairs, however, vendors and other organizations are not asked to pay a fee to set up their booths at the Green Expo. Invitations to participate have been issued to administrative and academic departments on campus, as well as to area employers and green nonprofit organizations in Murfreesboro and Nashville.

Karen Austin, associate director of MTSU’s Career Development Center, sees great potential in the green expo for future events of this kind. “It’s our first endeavor, [and it] could be a great program if we have community participation,”Austin said. The event is meant to be “an exposition of sustainability projects, carbon-footprint reduction efforts [and] environmental-awareness programs.”

Some area organizations that will be represented and/or contributing to the expo, either with informational materials and programs, or with potential job and internship opportunities are:

• MTSU’s Center for Environmental Education,
• MTSU’s student chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council,
• Students for Environmental Action (of course)
• The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy

and, appropriately enough, trash and recycling containers will be provided by the MTSU Recycling Program.

Conscientious Consumption Day (the Green Expo) isn’t the only event the Students for Environmental Action have planned, however. You can see other scheduled April activities at www.sea-mtsu.org, and you can read more about other participants and activities at the Murfreesboropost.com.

The “Green Expo on the Knoll” will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday, rain or shine. Though, of course, participants are hoping for blue skies over the green event, should it cloud up and rain, vendors and activities will be held inside, on the first floor of the Keathley University Center.

To find out more about the Green Expo, you can call 615-898-5732 or e-mail the Career Center Associate Director, Karen Austin, at kaustin@mtsu.edu.

Austin said she was astounded by how much she learned, just helping to organize this event, about steps the university and area organizations have already taken toward a more sustainable and environmentally sound future, and she wants the students to have the same “wow” kind of experience through visiting the expo and talking with the vendors.

So, if you’re in the area Wednesday, drop by the university and take part in some Conscientious Consumption of information.

Enjoy!

See you on the green ~

Rebecca

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