Wednesday, January 2nd 2012 

Happy New Year from everyone hear at the Smart Energy Initiative and the Chester County Economic Development Council! Checkout everything we’ve accomplished and provided with support from our companies and partners in the last year.

• Hosted Efficiency, Geothermal, and Solar Working Groups, and launched a Biofuels Working Group
• Received $391,749 in training requests
• Allocated $136,094 to 32 companies, training 171 Pennsylvania workers in certification-based efficiency and renewable energy programs.
• Established a programming committee responsible for developing revenue-generating high-level education seminars for industry, as well as general informational sessions for the public. Programs from 2012 include:
  • Experiencing Summer Energy Bill Shock?
  • The Facts and Nothing but the Facts on Marcellus Shale and America’s Energy Future
  • Fundamentals of Energy Project Financing
  • Capitalize from the Smart Grid
• Developed and hosted original training programs along with Board and Working Group firms. Topics from 2012 include:
  • BlueStar iPad Energy Auditing
  • Solar PV for Municipal Code Officers & Inspectors.
• Provided energy-related educational programming & speakers for 380 students in grades 6-12
• Launched new website as a resource for both member companies and consumers
• Connected hiring firms to grants for new employees ($3,600-$5,000 per hire)
• Secured a three-year federal grant to train and place qualified, skilled workers in clean energy fields
• Collaborated with the EEBHub (formerly GPIC), Sustainable Business Network, EnergyWorks, the Energy Coordinating Agency, Bucks County Chamber of Commerce, Montgomery County Economic Development Council, OIC of America, Energy Consortium of AZ, and many of the area’s unions and community colleges.

In 2012 SEI provided the below resources to the region’s smart energy organizations:

• Funding for incumbent worker energy training
• Grants for hiring new, “green” employers
• Financing for large renewable energy projects, as well as equipment & machinery
• HR and hiring resources for skilled positions
• Pool of skilled Solar and Electrical workers
• Corporate tax credits, which benefit SEI’s & CCEDC’s tech-related youth outreach and education
• Free small business consulting through the Small Business Development Centers and SCORE
• Project collaboration opportunities and networking through the four Working Groups
  

Here’s to an even more successful 2013!