Capital Region Leads State in Clean-Tech Job Growth, Study Says

By Rick Daysog Sacramento Bee Clean-tech companies in the Sacramento region now employ more workers than the local agricultural sector, underscoring the importance of the fledgling industry's role to the area's economy. In a report released today, the Green Capital Alliance, which promotes local green industry, said Sacramento has led the state in clean-tech job growth during the past 13 years and now employs more than 13,000 workers. By contrast, local farms and other agricultural companies employ about 12,800 people in Sacramento, El Dorado, Placer, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba counties, according to the Sacramento Area Commerce and Trade Organization (SACTO). "I think we have made a lot of progress …, but there's a lot to come," said Meg Arnold, CEO of the Sacramento Area Regional Technology Alliance. The study, "Advancing the Clean Energy Economy in California's Capital Region," offers a five-year progress report on efforts to transition the Sacramento Valley toward a green economy. It cites a 2009 report by Next 10, a San Francisco nonprofit group that supports green technology, that showed Sacramento was the fastest- growing sector in California with an 87 percent increase in green jobs between 1995 and 2008. The expansion comes as the other economic stalwarts in the Sacramento area – construction and manufacturing – have lost thousands of jobs in recent years. Between 2003 and 2008, employment in the region's building industry plummeted by more than 10,000 jobs, or about 15.6 percent, while factory jobs declined by 3,000, or about 7.2 percent. Much of the green industry's growth is being fueled by federal grants, which have totaled nearly $300 million in recent years. Federal stimulus grants for smart grid technology account for more than $127 million of that money. While stimulus programs lapse at the end of the year, the economic impact of those grants will likely be felt over several years, according to Bill Mueller, CEO of Valley Vision, a nonprofit business organization that helps manage Green Capital Alliance. The long-term benefits include jobs for installing new transmission lines and other technologies, and savings from energy-efficiency programs that leave more money in the pockets of consumers. "There's plenty of room to grow," Mueller said. The Green Capital Alliance noted that the region's fledgling clean-tech industry did not emerge by accident but is the product of collaborative efforts among state and local governments, private companies, business and trade associations and local universities such as the University of California, Davis, and California State University, Sacramento. Those collaborations are helping attract new businesses and factories to the region, the alliance said. Since 2005, the number of clean-tech firms operating in California has risen from 30 to more than 100. New companies and added jobs include: • Zeta Communities, makers of ultra energy-efficient modular homes, which opened its manufacturing facilities at McClellan Park last year, adding 200 jobs for the region; • Light-rail manufacturer Siemens Mobility added another 200 jobs to its Sacramento facility last year after it won a $205.2 million contract to build 57 light-rail vehicles for the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System; • N Solar Inc., a unit of South Korea-based Millinet Solar, set up its U.S. headquarters and manufacturing plant at McClellan Park, in a move that will result in 150 new jobs. But there have been plenty of misses, too. Ethanol producer Propel Fuels last year relocated from Washington state to Sacramento, bringing along 10 of its employees. Then, last month, the company packed up and headed to Redwood City. Optisolar, a Hayward-based solar panel maker, shelved plans for a 1,000-employee plant at McClellan Park last year after running out of money. "The region has also seen a number of internationally well-known companies locate their facilities in the region, then depart," the report says. "It is critical that our region supports the 'fruits of our labor' – in this case, those clean-technology companies that are investing in the Sacramento region and creating jobs." Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2010/11/29/3217524/capital-region-leads-state-in.html#ixzz175QaeIF4

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Capital Region Leads State in Clean-Tech Job Growth, Study Says

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