Gregg Mast gives an overview of the Clean Jobs Midwest Report release, how Special Session ended and an update on CEEM programming later this summer and fall!
Minnesota's fifth annual Clean Jobs Midwest 2020 Report launched June 25.
• Minnesota entered 2020 with 61,805 clean energy workers
• Before COVID-19, clean energy jobs were growing 2.5 times faster than the overall economy
• 11,546 clean energy workers across Minnesota now unemployed
• Unemployment claims since March are now 3.3 times the number of clean energy jobs created since 2017.
The Minnesota legislature ended its Special Session the morning of Saturday, June 20 with little progress on major bills.
The Energy Conservation and Optimization (ECO) Act was not brought to the Senate floor for a vote despite strong bipartisan support in both chambers, and from leadership in the Energy and Utilities Committee in the Senate.
There was also no deal made on a bonding bill. If passed, a bonding bill could create $350 million in energy projects at Minnesota’s public colleges and universities alone.
Governor Walz is required to reconvene the legislature in 30 days in order to renew special emergency executive powers that run through July 13 to continue the Walz/Flanagan administration’s response to COVID-19. We expect this will also involve a second special session with further legislative efforts to address the pandemic, economy, and law enforcement reforms, convening July 10.
A small group of Wayzata senior high school students didn’t let the pandemic keep them from trying to persuade the Wayzata School Board to invest in solar.
Top 5 Takeaways from the 2020 Clean Jobs Midwest Report
We are breaking down the top things to keep in mind about clean energy jobs in Minnesota from 2019 data. We are also sharing how those numbers have changed since the start of the pandemic, and how the past strength of the industry can be a key to Minnesota’s economic recovery.
Ever-Green Energy is accepting applications for the 2020 cohort of the Roadmap to Carbon Neutrality program, initiated to help higher education institutions accelerate their efforts to achieve carbon neutrality. The application will remain open until Friday, August 7, 2020.
Geoff Smith, President, IBI Data (Photo provided by the Austin Daily Herald)
Sustainability values shine in Brownsdale
IBI Data delivers sales and marketing services to more than 40 food manufacturing clients – most of which are Fortune 500 companies. IBI Data also operates a warehouse in Brownsdale that handles shipping and fulfillment of shelf stable, refrigerated and frozen food samples.
On several occasions, IBI’s leadership team had considered making energy efficiency improvements to their facility, but the projects never had a fast-enough payback to make it feasible. That changed when Geoff Smith, President of IBI Data, learned about PACE financing from Rochester-based Solar Connection.
Smith worked with Solar Connection, Premier Lighting, and CEEM-Member Saint Paul Port Authority to complete an LED lighting upgrade of their 100,000 square foot office building and warehouse, and install a 40kW solar array. Together, the improvements will save the business about 60 percent on their energy bills or up to $25,000 a year.
The next phase of the project is to incorporate pollinator-friendly landscaping.
IBI Data delivers sales and marketing services to more than 40 food manufacturing clients – most of which are Fortune 500 companies. IBI Data also operates a warehouse in Brownsdale that handles shipping and fulfillment of shelf stable, refrigerated and frozen food samples.
