Tennessee is one of the first states in the nation to conduct a comprehensive business survey to identify green jobs. This month the Tennessee Department of Labor will mail more than 6,000 surveys to Tennessee employers. The surveys focus on economic activity in the energy efficiency and renewable energy industries as well as identify occupations and skill requirements within those industries.
“Everyone is asking where green jobs are going from here, but the fact is green jobs haven’t been well documented here in Tennessee,” said Commissioner Neeley. “Green jobs may provide an excellent opportunity for Tennessee residents to get back to work in a growing industry as the state continues its economic recovery.”
Last November the Department of Labor and Workforce Development was awarded the $765,000 Tennessee Recovery Act Labor Market Information Improvement Grant to collect and disseminate data on the state’s growing green economy.
The Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development’s Labor Market Information Director Joe Cummings stresses the importance for businesses to complete the brief questionnaire.
“For this information to be reliable, we need as many employers to participate as possible. Data obtained from the survey will assist workforce policy makers in determining appropriate training for the provision of a skilled workforce to support Tennessee’s expanding green businesses.”
A green job is defined as one that directly produces green products or provides green services in any of the following five sectors:
· Producing or manufacturing renewable energy
· Increasing energy efficiency
· Conserving natural resources
· Preventing, reducing and cleaning up pollution
· Producing clean fuels and transportation
The results of the analysis will be published online in the spring of 2011 at www.sourcetn.org and will establish a baseline from which to measure future growth of green industries and jobs within the state.