We've all heard of “green collar” jobs, but what exactly are they? Phil Angelides, chair of the Apollo Alliance, says a green job “has to pay decent wages and benefits that can support a family. It has to be part of a real career path, with upward mobility. And it needs to reduce waste and pollution and benefit the environment.”

The transition to a green economy isn't just about saving the environment. It's also about making our society economically and socially sustainable. When people's health improves, when they're well-paid and secure, and when they're treated fairly, their creative potential is unstoppable —and creativity is the key to finding innovative solutions to the environmental crisis.

Many of the best green jobs are in the manufacturing industry. We'll need to build our sustainable economy. That means recycling waste into new raw materials for production; updating existing products to make them more eco-friendly; and creating entirely new products and technologies to clean up the environment and develop renewable forms of energy. No wonder 70 percent of private sector research and development takes place in manufacturing.

A robust, advanced manufacturing industry is also the clearest path to social and economic sustainability. The sector represents the highest possible fusion of public and private interests, generating real wealth for investors and owners while providing competitive wages and generous benefits for employees. And these aren't boring, dead-end jobs. Manufacturing career paths can lead into engineering, research, product design, business management, and even ownership.

Manufacturing also bolsters the overall economy. The industry employs nearly 13 million Americans at an average annual salary of $58,000, including benefits — that's about 25 percent higher pay than you'd get in a non-manufacturing position. Manufacturing accounts for 60 percent of U.S. exports, and every new job in manufacturing creates three more in related sectors like retail and distribution.

So where are these green manufacturing jobs? Many Americans are under the impression that manufacturing is dead in the United States, perhaps due to widespread media focus on factory closings and outsourcing. In reality, however, 81 percent of manufacturers say they can't find qualified workers to fill open positions.

The kinds of jobs that get outsourced to developing countries are low-skill, low-wage jobs, usually in mass production. The jobs that will bring us out of the recession and put us on the road toward a green economy, however, are in high-tech, advanced manufacturing — a sector that offers high-paying careers, but requires a more sophisticated workforce with specialized skills, particularly in math and science.

The United States still enjoys a competitive advantage in advanced manufacturing because of past investments in infrastructure and education, but American advanced manufacturing faces serious challenges. Without swift and decisive national leadership, we will lose this vital sector of the economy. The United States has a head start over developing countries — which have a competitive advantage in products that can be made by unskilled and low-cost labor, but not yet in the production of complex goods — but we're quickly falling behind.

One coalition, however, is working hard to keep us up to speed. The Chicago Manufacturing Renaissance Council (CMRC) is a strategic partnership of business, labor, government, education, and community leaders united under the common goal of establishing Chicago as the global leader in advanced, high value-added manufacturing. Because of the skills shortage crisis in manufacturing, much of the CMRC's recent work has been in education and workforce development.

“To succeed at preserving and extending our advantage, we must have a world-class education system as the foundation for a culture based on life-long learning,” says Dan Swinney, executive director, CMRC. “Nothing less is adequate or acceptable. This is not about simply doing better than last year or even about being relatively successful in comparison to other parts of the country. We must chart a trajectory toward becoming world leaders in education.”

The CMRC's signature project is Austin Polytechnical Academy (APA), a manufacturing-focused public high school located in Chicago's West Side neighborhood of Austin, which has been devastated by the decline of manufacturing in recent decades. APA, which is currently in its second year, attempts to reshape education by connecting education to industry needs.

Strategic partnerships with businesses in the Chicago area link students with plant tours, work-based projects, and job shadowing. In return, manufacturers have renewed hope that the educational system will provide them with the talent pipeline they need to replace retiring baby boomers, who account for 40 percent of the skilled workforce in manufacturing.

The school has attracted national attention, including that of President Barack Obama, who named Austin Polytech as a national model for education. “Thanks to a partnership with a number of companies, a curriculum that prepares students for a career in engineering, and a requirement that students graduate with at least two industry certifications,” he said on the campaign trail last year, “Austin Polytech is bringing hope back to the community. That's the kind of model we'll replicate across the country when I'm president of the United States.”

In postsecondary education, the CMRC has initiated a substantial evaluation of manufacturing programs in the City Colleges of Chicago. An ongoing partnership between City Colleges and the Renaissance Council has developed, which has led City Colleges to seek new equipment, new instructors, stronger marketing, and accreditation based on national skills standards.

Credentials based on industry-recognized skills standards are a key component of the talent pipeline in manufacturing. Skills standards are a win-win for employers and employees. Certifications help job seekers demonstrate their qualifications for a position, and at the same time, businesses feel more confident hiring employees with proof of satisfactory training.

Industry focus is a key component of the CMRC's education and workforce development strategy. That's why the Renaissance Council is deepening its strategic relationship with ManufacturingWorks, a demand-driven program that offers training and human resources solutions to enhance the performance of manufacturers in the Chicagoland area. Since 2007, ManufacturingWorks has helped 394 local businesses meet their workforce needs.

“We take a consultative approach to our work at companies,” explains Javier Hernandez, account executive, ManufacturingWorks. “We work with them to help fix their problems and implement a real systems change in manufacturing, company by company. We feel that our work is really aligned with what the CMRC is trying to do. We want to take those big ideas, formalize them, and turn them into customized solutions that we can deliver to companies.”

The CMRC's work in education, workforce development, and human resources lays an important foundation for more advanced initiatives to build a green, sustainable economy. The Renaissance Council has two new groundbreaking projects underway: the Chicago Green Manufacturing Network and the Austin Renewable Energy Innovation Park.

The CMRC is currently laying the groundwork for its Chicago Green Manufacturing Network, a project to link Chicago manufacturers with Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) in the wind turbine industry. The wind energy market is quickly expanding due to skyrocketing demand, and OEMs desperately need a reliable source of turbine components. The wind energy industry presents a great business opportunity for manufacturers, but unfortunately, very few manufacturers have the knowledge or capacity to produce wind turbine components, which can be highly complex.

That's where the Chicago Green Manufacturing Network comes in. In partnership with the Cleveland-based Great Lakes Wind Network, the CMRC will work to educate local manufacturers about the wind turbine industry and to connect them with OEMs in the wind energy market. The network will strengthen local businesses, build up the advanced manufacturing sector, and establish manufacturers as leaders in the environmental movement.

The CMRC's proposed Austin Renewable Energy Innovation Park is a complementary initiative that will focus on research and development in commercial-scale wind and other renewable energy sectors. The park will help build a critical mass of companies, skilled engineers, designers, and researchers with the knowledge and expertise to continually develop new products and innovations to attract new business and new investment. The park also will provide an anchor for a renewable energy cluster that would attract new business and investment, revitalizing the Austin community and helping to build a green economy in Chicago from top to bottom.

Ultimately, however, success with projects like the Green Manufacturing Network and the Innovation Park require a skilled workforce. In order to build — and maintain — a green economy, the United States must prioritize education reform. A comprehensive education and workforce development system that responds to industry needs is the best way to link Americans with rewarding careers that foster innovation and progress, strengthening our economy and our environment.

Ingrid Gonçalves is the communications director for the Center for Labor & Community Research (CLCR) in Chicago. The Chicago Manufacturing Renaissance Council is one of the CLCR's High Road's partnerships. To learn more about the CLCR and its initiatives, visit www.clcr.org.

Note: All statistics are from the Manufacturing Institute at the National Association of Manufacturers:

*http://www.nam.org/AboutUs/TheManufacturingInstitute/WhyManufacturingIsEssential.aspx

*http://www.nam.org/AboutUs/TheManufacturingInstitute/CenterforManufacturingResearchandInnovation

I-cademy Begins Training Students This Fall

Workforce development can be a concept that is hard to get your arms around because it is dynamic and requires long-term planning, with many different stakeholders involved in the process. It can make it a challenge to install training programs.

This fall, in St. Clair County, Ala., a 9,000-square-foot building located adjacent to Jefferson State Community College in Pell City, will house workforce training programs for high school students. The students will attend classes in areas such as robotics, welding, nursing and program logic controls, for half a day, earning college credit for the courses. For the I-cademy's initial year, officials hope to train as many as 100 students, at no cost to the students.

“We received a grant from the two-year college system in Alabama in the amount of $250,000 to begin the program,” says Ed Gardner, executive director, St. Clair County Economic Development Council. The county commission approved funding $200,000 for the program; as well as an ongoing commitment for $100,000 annually.

“The St. Clair County Commission is committed to providing assistance to local companies to ensure they have a skilled workforce,” Gardner says. “It shows a level of cooperation in the county, between the county and local governments and private businesses.”

The I-cademy demonstrates a commitment to existing industry, Gardner says. A nine-member advisory council comprised of education and economic development officials, and local industries, develops the curriculum which will provide a direct response to the private sectors' needs. “What happens many times with these types of program is that they can get stale because the private sector is not engaged and the programs become out of touch with the jobs that are out there,” Gardner says.

To learn more about I-cademy, visit www.stclairedc.com.

Jefferson County, Ga., Out In Front

When the state of Georgia began its Work Ready Community program two years ago, Jefferson County was the first county out of the state's 159 counties to achieve the certification to offer the programming. The program certifies entry-level positions; however, it can be adapted to all skill levels. The programming contains two components, one is to increase a county's high school graduation rate on a proscribed system; and the other is to certify the workforce's skill levels. Jefferson County's population of 17,000 to 18,000 people falls under the program's designation of a medium-sized county, which means the county was required to determine the skills of 284 workers, says Lil Easterlin, president, Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce.

The assessment test is called Work Keys, and takes two hours to three hours, Easterlin says. A candidate's skills are scored immediately. If the candidate doesn't score high enough to qualify for the job they want, the system provides no cost gap training to the candidate to receive more training in order to qualify for the higher level job.

Jefferson County's partner in the program is Sandersville Technical College, which has a satellite campus in the county.

“The way this program ties into Georgia's Quick Start Program is when a project does locate in your county, Quick Start will evaluate the jobs and carry them forward,” says Tom Jordan, executive director, Development Authority of Jefferson County. “The Work Ready program closes the gap to ensure entry-level employees are prepared.”

Jefferson County's industry base consists of agribusiness activities, including crops and dairy operations; as well as metal fabrication and machining activities. Thermo King, an Ingersoll Rand company, utilizes the Work Ready Community programming, which allows for a faster hiring process because the company doesn't have to screen the candidates.

“There are people here who have the skills to go directly to work,” Easterlin says. Some of the workers have been involved in the apparel industry in the past. “They are excited about learning new skills and understand they need to do that in order to provide the workforce that is needed for our future,” Jordan says.

To learn more about Jefferson County's Work Ready Community programming, visit www.jeffersoncounty.org.

Ontario, Calif., Is Pro-active In STEM Preparation

Ontario's economic development officials intend for Ontario to become the engineering capital of Southern California, and they are well on their way to meeting this goal. The city's population is ranked among the top 150 cities in the country; and during the next 20 years to 30 years, will be ranked among the nation's top 50.

“We want our STEM [science, technology, engineering and mathematics] programs to grow along with the city so we can retain and attract companies,” says Mary Jane Olhasso, economic development director, city of Ontario. The city has partnered with the Alliance for Education to develop relationships between schools and businesses for workforce training. An example is HMC Architects, which is working with Chaffey High School in the development of its architectural engineering academy. BAE Systems provides schools with problem-based learning opportunities. One was to determine the cost and environmental benefits of replacing grass with artificial turf. Another was to do the same with the installation of solar panels.

Ontario, located 40 miles east of Los Angeles, is a logistics and manufacturing hub, featuring 97 million square feet of industrial space; 1 million square feet of air cargo space is planned at the LA-Ontario International Airport, which is home to the western regional hub for UPS.

“We have developed a pathway for engineering, which starts in the middle schools, with everything from tutors to curriculum to introduce students to engineering,” Olhasso says. “The articulation between these school districts; elementary, high school and community college and the universities is extraordinary.”

The program at Chaffey High School allows students to shadow students at California State Polytechnic University-Pomona. The private sector also offers apprenticeship, internships and job shadowing under the high school's programming. “It is a comprehensive program and the students are doing well,” Olhasso says. “We are looking at expanding the program to another high school and its feeder middle school.”

To learn more about Ontario's STEM initiatives, visit www.ci.ontario.ca.us.