toledoblade.com -- The Blade ~ Toledo Ohio

More than a half-million Ohio workers hold jobs that could benefit "green industries," a good sign for potential investors, said a new study.

The largest number of jobs, 212,000, would aid solar power technologies, according to the report by the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts.

Nationwide, nearly 14.3 million workers, or 9 percent of the work force, hold such jobs, it said.

Xunlight Corp. spokesman Liwei Xu said her recruiting experience for the Toledo solar panel firm confirms the report: Many "green professional" hires are from northwest Ohio.

"With most engineers, technicians, and administrative positions we've been quite successful in finding the right person locally," she said. Those unfamiliar with solar technologies often "learn along the way," which makes recruitment easier, she added.

The study considered 43 technical jobs spanning six industries and found that a large work force exists to fill future "green jobs," said Robert Pollin, a co-author.

"[Green jobs] are going to be in demand" as the industry grows, he said, but the skill sets already exist. Workers just need to apply learned skills to new green-oriented jobs, he added.

"Investing in the green economy will employ people in the same [type of] work they're doing now," he said.

The Ohio Department of Development said the report confirms Ohio's leading role in green technologies, and investors would be wise to fund local projects.

"Ohio has the work force for the green industry," said Mark Barbash, chief economic development officer at the department. "Now what we need to put in place is … a strategy to make the economy of the state strong for alternative energy."

The state's Third Frontier Project, a $1.6 billion program that promotes high-tech research capabilities, innovation, and business creation, is a step in that direction.

Frank Calzonetti, vice president of research development at the University of Toledo, said that educating and training young professionals is key to cultivating Ohio's green industries.

Last year, the university received $18.6 million from the state development agency to create the Center for Photovoltaics Innovation and Commercialization, a solar energy research and business facility.

The Regional Growth Partnership, a northwest Ohio development firm, estimates that the Toledo region has 6,000 employees engaged in the solar industry.

Contact Ted Fackler at:
tfackler@theblade.com
or 419-724-6199.

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