The Employment Security Commission (ESC) will receive federal grants totaling over $1 million so that our Labor Market Information (LMI) division can collect, analyze and disseminate labor market information focused on energy efficiency and renewable energy industries, along with the associated green jobs.
Obviously, we are excited to receive these grants. It will allow us to identify existing green jobs and the potential for more throughout North Carolina. We can then use this information to enhance our labor exchange function and let our partners know about changes, if any, which may be needed in our state’s job training programs to better equip our labor force and speed the establishment of these kinds of opportunities for the state’s employers.
One of Gov. Perdue’s goals is to grow the number of Green Jobs and related employers as quickly as possible. The information generated by these studies will speed that process. We will use the larger of the two grants — $946,000 — to conduct a Green Jobs survey and to perform research to determine state and local, as well as real-time, Green employment demand.
Another $71,000 grant was awarded to the ESC as part of a multi-state consortium and our LMI division will use that money to assist in modernization of the methodology used to estimate future green job demand. The two efforts will play an important role the ESC’s ability to provide the state’s workforce development and educational partners with the foundational information necessary to implement and enhance effective workforce development strategies that address the needs of North Carolina’s green employers.