With the inauguration of a new president who is calling for oil independence, the stake has increased for viable alternative energies. Increasingly, energy companies and government officials are turning to educational institutions for answers.
Kelly Johnson from the Sacramento Business Journal reports about what is happening at Sacramento community colleges to increase the green workforce and bring more ideas to more than 100 local, clean-energy businesses.
SACRAMENTO, CALIF. -- Last Thursday, Congresswoman Doris Matsui announced that the Los Rios Community College District will receive more than $2 million from the federal government for a clean energy and technology program.
The college district, which has four local colleges, will collect more than $2.03 million through a U.S. Department of Labor job-training grant to provide education and training. Los Rios will use that money to develop a GreenForce program, which will train more than 1,000 people over three years in the clean energy and technology fields. Areas of study include: solar systems design and installation; green building design and management; and water system design and operation.
Matsui, a member of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and Sacramento's representative, wrote to the Department of Labor in November in support of the district's application for the federal funds.
The Sacramento region's more than 100 clean-energy companies often can't find enough qualified people to hire. This funding is expected to boost job training in these areas and help close the workforce gap.
"As Sacramento's clean technology industry grows, area residents are going to have to be well trained to fill those positions," Matsui said in a news release. "I am confident the development of the GreenForce program will build an exceptional green workforce out of our region's residents."
For the complete story, visit the Sacramento Business Journal.
