Green Construction skills in Colorado

LOUISVILLE, Colo. — With what could be the foundation of his new career poking through a gray afternoon sky last month, Benjamin Jacobs closely watched what was happening on the roof of a quaint Louisville fourplex.

A few months ago, Jacobs, 28, was working security at a department store part-time and doing part-time work as a bill collector. But he was looking for a change that could provide long-term job prospects and stability for his young family.

A friend told him about the Boulder County Green Jobs Pipeline, a program teaching “green” construction skills.

The joint effort between Boulder County Housing and Human Services and Workforce Boulder County is aimed at creating “green-collar jobs” for low-income residents. The on-the-job training includes winterizing homes and installing solar panels.

According to the American Solar Energy Society, a Boulder-based nonprofit, as many as 37 million American jobs could be generated by the renewable-energy and energy-efficiency industries by 2030, and there could be as much as $61 billion generated by the industries in Colorado by that year

via Colorado Daily