Green Economy & Green Jobs

The Issues
Recent Developments
What Delta is Doing
Where Do You Want to GO Next?

The Issues
Sometimes called “Cleantech” or “the Clean Economy,” the Green Economy has the potential to help revive the American economy while addressing global warming, making American corporations more competitive and reducing our dependence on fossil fuels. The development of this economy has taken on greater urgency with the influx of federal stimulus funding and incentives for renewable energy, energy efficiency, and green workforce development. In the Great Lakes region, the Green Economy has the potential to create millions of new jobs and expand opportunities, particularly in areas that have been hit hard by the recession, such as auto manufacturing. The region has experienced a steady loss of manufacturing employers and jobs, as many have been moved offshore, while others decline in response to changing market forces and volatile prices for fuel and other resources. Green economic development could be a valuable strategy for reinvigorating business activity and creating jobs in the region to regain a competitive edge.

Recent Developments
Cities, states and regions throughout the U. S. are considering how they can build on their existing assets and take advantage of new incentives and funding to support the growth of new industries and businesses linked to cleaner energy, transportation, buildings, and products. The Great Lakes region is focused on redeploying its manufacturing base to support greener transportation, alternative fuel, and vehicle production and components for renewable energy equipment. There are also extensive assets in the form of natural resources, such as wind and water, as well as brownfield properties and agricultural land that can support biomass production, waste recovery and similar operations. In addition, large concentrations of commercial buildings and older housing stock in the region’s urban centers presents an opportunity for business and job development connected to green building technologies, energy efficiency retrofits, home weatherization and building deconstruction and reuse. In addition, waste, which is a major “resource” in the region, provides its own set of new economic activities as entrepreneurs use recycled and repurposed materials for new business activity.

Because green jobs are still a very small part of the economy, greening all types of existing industries and businesses should be a key focus of local economic development plans.  There is growing demand for niche professional services such as energy raters, waste auditors, green product certifiers, and carbon offset verifiers in addition to consultants, architects, engineers, and product designers. Engineering, law, and tax firms are also expanding their environmental and energy practices to assist businesses in navigating a growing field of regulations and financial incentives relating to energy and the environment.

What Delta Is Doing
Delta Institute is examining opportunities to redevelop brownfield properties in weak markets into sustainable business uses. This involves working with various sizes and types of communities around the Great Lakes region to develop “roadmaps” for promoting local green business development and job growth. Delta has:

•    Facilitated planning initiatives for the City of Indianapolis; Racine County, Wisconsin; Chicago’s South Suburbs; Sterling, Illinois; Madison, Wisconsin; and Elkhart County, Indiana. In addition to community-wide strategies, we are also developing more specific plans for specific sites as well as helping communities identify and secure funding.

•    Developed a Green Economy Workbook that includes guidance and tools communities can use to conduct their own planning process. Sector-specific guides for new green industries, such as deconstruction, are also in the works.

•    Assisted businesses looking to start or expand into new green products or services in selected pilot communities by linking them to brownfield sites, conducting research, and helping them apply for grants. In addition, Delta’s Green Business Development Center has provided business planning, real estate assistance, financing, supply chain support, and other services to a variety of Green Economy businesses. Based on this experience, Delta is developing prototypes and models of different Green Economy ventures that can be replicated in communities throughout the region, putting their brownfield properties to productive use.

•    Supported workforce initiatives in these growing green businesses and industries. Our technical knowledge and experience in emerging Green Economy sectors have allowed us to partner with the Chicagoland Green Collar Job Initiative and other nonprofit organizations, as well as colleges and universities, to develop and deliver workshops and training courses on building deconstruction, weatherization, and general green business issues, such as energy efficiency, green purchasing, green building, and other topics.

Where Do You Want to GO Next?
•    Free Green Job Training
•    Brownfield Redevelopment
•    Green Economy Resources and Tools
•    Green Economies in Weak-Market Communities

To explore additional green opportunities, visit our Green Economy Navigator.