Phoenix Green Chamber of Commerce

Green Jobs Now and Later

We worry about unemployment but also consider balancing the economy with ecology. We have seen new industries replace old ones. Some because of technology but others because of a concern and need to create a better life and more sustainable future. Solar and wind industries are growing at phenomenal rates. Job creation in electric vehicle technology and production is just starting with huge predictions for future employment. Most green jobs in the future will be occupations that people have today: transforming and retrofitting, buildings, farms or factories while others will be the result of new technology. A green job is anything that contributes to preserving or enhancing environmental quality.

The Phoenix Green Chamber of Commerce hosted a career panel recently at a middle school where 12 and 13 year olds had an opportunity to hear from professionals with green jobs. The kids were bright and enthusiastic. They already had a great grasp on the concept of green they knew what the EPA was and were up on current ecological news. Their attitude could give you faith in the future because they took the idea of looking for a green job or creating a green business as a ‘given’, not something strange or unique. It seemed to be a matter of fact with this next generation that sustainability is the right thing to do, way to live and green jobs will be the ones to get. Since they are not current college students or adults they didn’t have any negativity to throw back about the sluggish economy, just great questions on how they could become an scientist (like their Teacher), and eco-friendly lawyer, design better buildings or work with animals. As trailblazers, the eco-business people on the panel served as present day examples of what is possible and inspiration for combining avocation and vocation.

The Top green jobs for the next 5-10 years list everything from Farmer to Light Rail Operator. Most jobs will be in education and energy. For what Green Jobs might be available for you now check out http://www.greencareersguide.com/

Author Kelly Sallaway is a writer and producer. Her Scottsdale-based company Kellan Media promotes and produces green programming for video and TV. www.kellanmediallc.com

The Phoenix Green Chamber of Commerce hosted a career panel at Altadena Middle School with seven industry professionals who have “Green Jobs” As a continuation of “Go Green Kyrene”, a program designed to raise awareness about sustainability, the students engaged in discussions about the balance of between ecology and commerce.

Author Park Howell is president of Park&Co, a Phoenix-based sustainable ad agency specializing in environmental and cause marketing. He writes his own blog, “Sustainable Storytelling,” that explores green marketing to help companies accelerate wise growth through smarter branding at ParkHowell.com.

Some of our money is suppose to be out there creating opportunities to advance green business and hopefully create new jobs in green technology. I like to know where any kind of green stimulus is going but I am especially interested in any that may be landing in Arizona.

Nearly $200 million in federal stimulus money has found its way to us and to helping Arizona move into a green future. In my own town, a small Scottsdale company is playing a major role in the biggest-ever U.S. launch of electric car charging stations by using nearly $100 million of the stimulus grants to build charging stations.

Scottsdale’s Ecotality Inc., which owns Electric Transportation and Engineering Corp., will roll out 12,800 charging stations in Arizona, Washington, Oregon, California and Tennessee using a $99.8 million grant . This is the largest electric-vehicle infrastructure program ever undertaken in the United States. The chargers initially will support the Nissan Leaf electric car when it goes on sale late next year.

The Ecotality/ETEC grant is just a fraction of $2.4 billion in stimulus money.

State, local governments and individual homeowners will be provided with money to find new ways to conserve energy, generate electricity and promote alternate fuels. It is part of a $3.2 billion package to pay for energy efficiency and conservation projects with money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), the $787 billion stimulus package approved by Congress and President Obama in February.

The DOE has divided the general allocation of energy grants into 10 categories:

1. Energy Efficiency: $5 billion
2. Greening Federal Bldgs: $4.5 billion
3. Renewable Energy: $2.5 billion
4. Smart Grid: $4.5 billion
5. Clean Coal: $3.4 billion
6. Next-gen Biofuels: $0.8 billion
7. Basic Science: $1.6 billion
8. Batteries: $2 billion
9. Advanced R & D: $0.4 billion
10. Nuclear Cleanup: $6 billion

If you want to find out more: The DOE lists up-to-date information on exactly how much money has been awarded VS allocated.

Author Kelly Sallaway is a writer and producer. Her Scottsdale-based company Kellan Media promotes and produces green programming for video and TV. www.kellanmediallc.com

If you are reading the Phoenix Green Chamber of Commerce blogs you are probably concerned about the environment as well as business. The green chamber is where like-minded entrepreneurs meet. We think about how to make our businesses grow while retaining some of our personal core values of responsibility and sustainability. We hope we can be a model for other business leaders while we look to some of the ‘big guys’ for inspiration and ideas. We wonder who is doing a good job at combining these enviable attributes.

If you are wondering how green a company is ‘there’s a list for that’!

Top 20 greenest large companies according to Newsweek (in 2009)

1. Hewlett-Packard
2. Dell
3. Johnson & Johnson
4. Intel
5. IBM
6. State Street
7. Nike
8. Bristol-Myers Squibb
9. Applied Materials
10. Starbucks
11. Johnson Controls
12. Cisco Systems
13. Wells Fargo
14. Sun Microsystems
15. Sprint Nextel
16. Adobe Systems
17. Advanced Micro Devices
18. Kohl’s
19. Allergan
20. Staples

While all rankings may be a subjective mixture of metrics, the magazine spent over year compiling data to come up with its list for an environmental ranking of top 500 large companies in the United States.

The Newsweek rankings give large corporations a benchmark to compare and compete with each other for improved standings on the list. When a company knows where it stands the results can raise awareness for corporations and in-turn individuals. Intel, No. 4 in ranking, recently launched an initiative in which every employee’s annual bonus is tied, in part, to how well the company does in meeting sustainability goals. As business leaders and customers we now have more information to compare companies and decide where we want to shop or invest.

If you are looking to selectively place your investments in only the most sustainable companies consider turning to the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes.

Author Kelly Sallaway is a writer and producer. Her Scottsdale-based company Kellan Media promotes and produces green programming for video and TV. www.kellanmediallc.com

Welcome to the brand new – and not quite ripe – Phoenix Green Chamber of Commerce blog. Our goal is to become YOUR trusted resource for insights into sustainability and green business practices; first as a business owner, and then as a consumer.

We need your input on the kinds of information you’re looking for that will help you run a more profitable and sustainable business. Our ultimate focus will be exploring the myriad of answers to the following question:

“How can commerce and ecology coexist?”

Feel Free to Comment Freely and Often

We have a gaggle of gifted designers and writers who are contributing to this blog, and we’re always looking for more inspired content. So if you have an idea for a story, a question that needs answering, information that must be shared, or interesting insights into the greening of our economy, please let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

Author Park Howell is president of Park&Co, a Phoenix-based sustainable ad agency specializing in environmental and cause marketing. He writes his own blog, “Sustainable Storytelling,” that explores green marketing to help companies accelerate wise growth through smarter branding at ParkHowell.com.

Recently the PGCC partnered with Arizona Science Center to launch a Valley sustainability exhibit called the “Green Room Gallery.” Its theme,  ”Moving in the Right Direction,” demonstrated how small, simple choices of green products, services and practices can make a dramatic impact on the social and environmental fabric of the Valley of the Sun.

We are extraordinarily proud to say that over 40,000 people walked the exhibit during its 60-day run. How is that for fabulous!The Green Room Gallery at Arizona Science Center was a display built entirely by local companies to help kids and adults alike understand how small simple changes in their lifestyle could make a big impact on the environment as a whole.  The display was constructed entirely of sustainable building materials and filled with great suggestions on how to green up the Phoenix community.

It was conceptualized and built in just four weeks – normally this process takes at least six months.  Our thanks go out to all the companies who donated their time, services and goods. We appreciate you tremendously!!

View a PDF of who participated

Read the press release