Green energy jobs: Stimulus leads the way to the future

The stimulus program reenergized the state's weatherization program. In the year before stimulus, the weatherization program was at $12 million. The stimulus program injected $122 million into the program over three years. For homeowners, who couldn't afford to insulate their homes and make them more energy efficient, the program has proven to be a godsend.

But for people in the construction industry who lost their jobs, the weatherization program was an opportunity to get a job, often with training in the latest in green construction, positioning them for a career that would carry them into the future.

At Springfield Partners for Community Action, the $8.3 million the anti-poverty agency received for its weatherization program meant it nearly quadrupled the amount of work that was being done. It also meant that they needed to hire six more people.

One of those was Russel Rososky, who had been an enrolment supervisor at Square One, a childcare center, for five years before he was laid off. Rososky had been looking for work for five months before he heard of a part time opening in Springfield Partners.

As soon as the opportunity opened up in the weatherization program, he took it. He received training and is now the utility program coordinator.

"This means everything to me," he said.

Randy Moquin shares those sentiments. He was the director of maintenance at Six Flags for six years before he was laid off. After spending months going to the unemployment office, he heard about the stimulus-funded green jobs training program. He jumped at the opportunity and upon completion of the course he met Joe Kerigan, the director of Springfield Partner's weatherization program, who offered him the position of energy auditor.

"The training in-house is huge," he said. "I have a great new career now."

Ironically, Kerigan, is also a new hire. He had been laid off from his position as building superintendent and quality control manager for the Navy and had been looking for a new

job for over a year. When he got the call, offering him this job, he jumped at it.

"We were doing 213 homes a year before the Recovery Act," he said. "Now we are on record to do 1,000 this year."