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Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm's Oct. 17, 2008 Radio Address: Alternative Energy Jobs

This is Governor Jennifer Granholm. Michigan is committed to leading the nation in alternative energy research, development and production, and we are working our plan every day to create jobs in this growing industry. We’ve created incentives to bring companies to Michigan and to help them grow here. And we now require that 10 percent of Michigan’s future energy needs come from renewable sources like solar and wind power. And we’ve had a number of recent announcements to celebrate:

Mascoma, the nation’s first plant making ethanol from wood waste, will soon break ground in the Upper Peninsula, creating 700 jobs in that area. A partnership in Flint with a Swedish company will convert municipal waste into biodiesel fuel for the city’s busses. A Nevada-based company, last week, chose Manistee to build residential wind turbines. And this week, United Solar Ovonic, a world leader in the solar industry announced they would build its third manufacturing facility in Michigan, creating 350 jobs in Battle Creek. These announcements are certainly good news for our state and for the Michigan workers who will be hired to fill those new jobs.

But to continue to build on this exciting potential for Michigan, we must also develop the infrastructure and training capacity needed to attract jobs in this growing industry. Michigan has always succeeded in attracting jobs thanks to our world-class workforce. New energy jobs are no different.

Our groundbreaking No Worker Left Behind program has developed a green jobs focus that targets training opportunities in renewable energy industries to ensure that we have the best-trained “green” workforce in the country. Already, we have identified 88 university, community college and vocational training programs for worker retraining in these fields.

And this fall, students at every one of Michigan’s 15 public universities had the opportunity to enroll in alternative energy-related courses to prepare for careers in this field.

In addition, Michigan’s universities are working hard to attract renewable energy research and development funding. Working together as the University Research CorridorMichigan State, the University of Michigan and Wayne State University received nearly $80 million in funding in 2007 for research and development activities in alternative energy – a significant increase over the year before.

That’s $80 million to help spur economic development by moving new technology and innovation from the lab to the marketplace more quickly. Michigan is perfectly positioned to be a national renewable energy leader. We have all the right tools – we have natural resources, we have an outstanding workforce, we have manufacturing capacity, and we have R&D know-how.

And if we continue to put in place progressive policies that encourage renewable energy development, and if we continue to provide our workers with the training they need, and if we continue to expand the funding available for research and develop, we will continue to celebrate jobs announcements in wind, solar, biofuels and more.

Thanks for listening.