Green shoots

 

When Stamford-based OnForce Solar Inc. set about last month expanding its work force of a dozen workers who install photovoltaic systems for heating pools and water systems, owner Charles Feit was besieged with resumés.
“Since the construction industry fell, every Andersen Window installer within 100 miles wants to be in solar,” Feit said.

Feit”™s needs go on beyond the solar array itself, however ”“ on the expectation of increased business as a result of various economic stimulus programs, he is on the lookout for a person with experience in writing grants, as well.
As companies like OnForce move swiftly to take advantage of new business as the economy chugs back into motion, the state is moving more slowly on the “green” jobs front as lawmakers and agency officials simultaneously deal with cutting large deficits.

In February, Gov. M. Jodi Rell signed an executive order directing an array of state agencies to address green-collar job creation, including the Dept. of Economic and Community Development; the Dept. of Labor; the Connecticut Employment and Training Commission; the Office of Policy and Management; and community colleges.

To date, however, those agencies have revealed little headway toward the goal. Earlier this month, the state”™s ConnSTEP manufacturing assistance bureau announced the first three companies of six to sign up for two-day training session to help companies plan and prioritize environmental initiatives. And last month, Nicholas Jolly, an economist with the state Department of Labor, addressed the topic as part of the state Department of Labor”™s annual Connecticut Learns and Works Conference in Westport.

Connecticut”™s roster of green jobs addressing environmental technologies expanded 7 percent between 1997 and 2007, according to a new study by the Pew Charitable Trusts, which has offices in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. That was the fastest pace of any of its Northeast neighbors, though it trailed the national rate of 9 percent growth in clean technology jobs.

Connecticut placed in the top five nationally for patents registered that address environmental and energy technologies between 1999 and 2008.

Pew researchers calculated a 2 percent drop in clean jobs in New York, and a nearly 10 percent decline in New Jersey, trailing only Utah for the worst performance in the nation.

As of 2007, Pew counted some 860 clean-tech companies in Connecticut that employed more than 10,000 people. Whereas Connecticut and New York had a similar rate of overall job loss in the preceding decade at 2.7 percent and 2.6 percent respectively, the Empire State”™s green jobs sector contracted nearly 2 percent over that period, compared to the 7 percent gain in Connecticut.

Idaho and Nebraska were the lone states to double the size of their clean tech work forces during the period studied; Maine led Northeast states with a 23 percent gain, and the Pine Tree State was trailed only Oregon for percentage of workers in green collar jobs.

Defining the term “green jobs” is tricky, according to economist Jolly. Some jobs are “green” one day and not the next ”“ for instance, workers with New Milford-based RT”™s Construction may install solar arrays one day, and fabricate copper the next for ornamental roofing purposes. 

What”™s more, it is not easy to classify employees at companies like Danbury-based FuelCell Energy Inc. whose jobs would not be considered green collar at another employer, but whose pay is the direct result of an environmentally beneficial technology or service.

Jolly”™s best guess calls for 12 percent growth in the Connecticut”™s green jobs sector through 2016, but if taken as a percentage of the state”™s total employment, those jobs will only increase the size of Connecticut”™s work force by 0.01 percent. Industries that already boast a strong environmental component are expected to see only marginal growth, such as utilities and business services, including consulting.