By Tony LaColla, AICP

A new term has emerged in the rapidly growing “green” industry.  Forget the classic terms of white collar or blue collar jobs, the wave of the future might just be green collar: work in fields that help the environment. 

The green collar sector is now the 5^th largest market sector in the US.  As the green industry continues to grow, the private sector has found there is a lack of skilled workers to create, build, install, and maintain green technologies.   Experts predict the need for half a million green collar jobs to be created in the next three years in every income level.  New employees will need to be trained and current professionals will have an opportunity to add green to their skill sets.

Green collar jobs can encompass anything from green product design, energy rating audits, and urban arborists to green roof and solar panel installation, xeriscaping, ecological restoration, and hazardous waste cleanup, just to name a few.  Green collar employees tend to be higher paid than their traditional counterparts due to a value-added demand for green products and the current shortage of skilled workers. 

Congress has been lobbied for a $2 billion fund that cities could tap for their green efforts, including job training.  Green for All, a national group working to bring green-collar jobs to cities, has asked Congress for $125 million to train union members and poor people in green jobs.  Both efforts are part of the energy bill the U.S. House of Representatives passed recently under the Green Jobs Act of 2007.

Opportunities for Unemployed

Cities around the U.S. are looking at new ways to grow their economies, diversify their work force, and go green.  Seeing the opportunity to be part of the growing $341 billion-a-year green industry, several local governments have jumped on board to take advantage of the “go green” trend.  Working with job training programs and local colleges and universities, local governments are realizing they can move people out of poverty and create a new crop of workers with skills that are desperately needed in the private sector.

Examples of cities creating green-collar jobs:

• Bronx, NY is home to the Sustainable South Bronx group which is at the forefront of a movement to put low-income and low-skilled workers in "green collar" jobs.  Funded by private grants, 90% of program participants are now “environmentalists” in full-time jobs that pay a living wage.
• Richmond, CA spends $1 million a year to train residents in the basics of construction and solar installation. City officials work with six solar companies in the San Francisco Bay Area to train participants, offering them paid internships at the end of the nine-week program.
• Oakland, CA designated $250,000 for a Green Collar Job Corps that trains unemployed people in solar and green-roof installation, green-building practices and home weatherization.
• Chicago, IL has a $2 million program that has trained 265 participants since 1994 in landscaping and tree pruning.  Since 2005, computer recycling and disposal of household chemicals such as motor oil and paints have skyrocketed, demanding workers who can dispose of these materials. Sixty percent have found jobs with the city, non-profit groups or private employers as landscapers, tree pruners, arborists and truck drivers.

As the green movement continues to grow, becoming one of the fastest growing segments of the economy, our area will need to find ways to capitalize on changes in the U.S. economy by providing green collar workers.   Without a doubt, green collar jobs will be part of our future.  Are we missing out on what could potentially be the next dot.com - like boom?  Will we have the skilled workers needed to meet the demands of new and expanding green businesses in our area?