Jul 10 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Tony Dobrowolski The Berkshire Eagle, Pittsfield, Mass.


While some sectors of the economy are struggling, green-collar jobs appear to be on the rise.

The Center for Ecological Technology, a private nonprofit whose administrative offices are located on Elm Street in Pittsfield, has doubled its work force from 35 to 70 employees over the past year.

Five additional positions are currently being offered, including hiring the private nonprofit's first human resources director, a process that is in the final stages.

CET serves all four counties in Western Massachusetts, but around half of the new hires are based in Berkshire County, said co-directors Laura Dubester and Alan Silverstein. Because of the new hires, CET recently moved 11 employees to a new branch office on West Housatonic Street that opened on Monday.

"We have been in energy efficiency for 30 years," said Silverstein of CET, which was founded in 1976. "The wave has gotten a lot bigger the last few."

"People come up to us all the time and say, 'Congratulations, I now see what you've been trying to do all these years,'" Dubester said. "It's very gratifying."

CET also has an office in Northampton and operates the ReStore in Springfield, which sells used and surplus building materials.

The co-directors attribute CET's recent growth spurt to a commitment from the Patrick administration to make energy efficiency a cornerstone of its energy policy. This has led utility

companies to increase the number of initiatives that are designed to provide energy audits of private residences, they said.

Of the 14,400 green jobs in Massachusetts, 43 percent involve energy efficiency, according to Heather P. Boulger, the executive director of the Berkshire County Regional Employment Board. The Berkshire County figures were unavailable on Thursday.

CET provides energy improvement audits as a vendor for the Western Massachusetts Electric Co., National Grid, and the Berkshire Gas Co., Silverstein said. The utility companies fund these programs by charging a small amount per kilowatt hour to ratepayers, he added.

Under one initiative, CET will provide an energy savings report for a homeowner, and a contract that will list the cost, the measures involved, and amount of rebate that an energy company will pay. Once a contract is signed, CET will create a work order and assign it to a contracter who meets all of the nonprofit's specifications.

"When the work is done, CET goes back in and performs a quality control inspection," Silverstein said.

Besides hiring people to perform the energy improvements, CET has also hired the corresponding administrative and supervisory staff to oversee them.

"I think that people understand that they need to become more energy efficient," Dubester said, referring to the increase in green jobs in general. "We can't afford to keep paying for fossil fuels.

"I think that climate change has really been a driver," she added. "The environment and the economy are linked."

To become trained in green technology, CET and Berkshire Community College are offering a Green Jobs Certification Program that will prepare employees to work as air sealing technicians. The program will be offered in both Pittsfield and North Adams.

Training begins this summer and runs through December. For more information, contact Beth Lapierre at BCC at (413) 236-5251, or at elapierr@berkshre.cc.edu.

To reach Tony Dobrowolski:

tdobrowolski@berkshireeagle.com,

or (413) 496-6224.

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