51,402
estimated number of green jobs in Oregon spread across 5,025 employers

3%
of Oregon’s private, state government, and local government employment are Green Jobs

 

Workforce Solutions

For program year 2009-2010, Worksystems, Inc. is focused on the following industries:

  • Increasing Regional LEED Training Capacity - Worksystems is funding training for members of the Willamette Valley Carpenters Training Center Instructional Team that will lead to the US Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) accreditation for each instructor.

  • Green Futures/Green Training Pathway - To prepare interested job seekers from all readiness levels and communities, Worksystems is working with industry skill panels and local training providers to build an articulated Green Futures Pathway, a continuum of training opportunities leading to employment in Green Building.

    		•
    		Business Resources > Green Building

    Creating More Green Collar Jobs in Portland from Mayor Sam Adams on Vimeo
    link to video

    Worksystems recognizes that Green jobs, specifically those that are in the Green Building, Energy Efficient Retrofits, and Installation have repeatedly been touted as part of the solution to today’s economic and environmental crises. Green jobs have the ability to provide a pathway out of poverty for millions of underemployed and unemployed Americans.

    Green building creates green jobs, and green jobs will be crucial as we build a new green economy. A study by the Center for American Progress and the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts Amherst found that a national green economic recovery program focused on green building and green energy infrastructure would create 2 million new green jobs. Worksystems is committed to working with the Construction Industry to identify opportunities for skilling up the regions Construction Workforce in order to enable them to take advantage of the new requirements and opportunities that Green Building projects provide. In addition to skilling up the existing workforce, Worksystems will also look to the future and develop pathways for new workers to successfully enter the trades as the new jobs arrive.

    Next Steps & Ongoing Initiatives:

    • Greening up the Trades - The construction trades identified the need to provide training in green principles and practices for construction workers who have been laid off. Beginning with area Dislocated Sheet Metal workers, Worksystems is investing in training opportunities specifically designed to skill up unemployed construction workers and increase their ability to compete for Green Building related employment.
    • Worksystems, Inc through Construction Apprenticeship & Workforce Solutions, Inc. (CAWS) is partnering with the Portland’s Bureau of Planning and Sustainability around Clean Energy Works: Portland -Clean Energy Works Portland is an innovative effort, led by Mayor Sam Adams and the City of Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability, to deliver affordable home energy upgrades to homeowners in Portland through new opportunities like on-bill repayment. Clean Energy Works supports the City’s goal of reducing carbon emissions 80 percent by 2050 by helping residents save energy, reduce carbon emissions, improve home comfort and home values -- while creating thousands of new family-supporting green jobs and career training opportunities for historically disadvantaged Portland-area residents. Find more information at www.cleanenergyworksportland.org.

    CAWS logoFor more information contact:
    John Gardner
    503-478-7354
    jgardner@worksystems.org

    Skill Panel Members

    		  

    Training


    NW Regional Council Carpenters
    P & C Construction
    Walsh Construction
    Howard S. Wright Construction
    NECA-IBEW Port of Portland
    Ironworkers
    Providence Health Systems

    		  

    PCC Green Short-Term Training Programs

     Building to LEED® for New Construction

    MHCC - Sustainable Building Advisor Training Program