Employers and green energy groups came together to try and fill vacancies in clean energy jobs in the Southern Tier. The inaugural Greater Binghamton Clean Energy Careers Summit, held Wednesday, is just the beginning of what organizers hope will be a major transition.
Adam Flint is the director of clean energy programs for the Network for a Sustainable Tomorrow, which put together the career fair. The event featured panel discussions, as well as a job fair featuring over a dozen employers in the green energy sector looking to hire employees.
Flint said there are scores of jobs open now.
"We need electricians. We need people who are in HVAC. We need engineers. We need people who can work on the manufacturing line in various places,” Flint said.
He added there are plenty of other positions ranging anywhere from graphic design to business and accounting that clean energy companies also need to fill.
Raymond Corporation Human Resources Director Maribeth Absi was among the employers at the event. She said it’s been difficult to find workers and so Raymond, like a lot of other companies, is offering on-the-job training.
"If someone has training and experience we're open to that. If they don't have training, we'll bring them in and train them on a variety of different skills,” Absi said.
Building out the workforce, Flint said, is going to be key to following through on investments like those made by the state and federal governments in growing the clean energy sector.
"Anyone can walk in, whether they're a mid-career changers, whether they're just out of incarceration, whether they've been a caregiver for the last 15 years, a high school senior, you name it. It should be as easy for them to understand how to get a career in clean energy as it would be for somebody who looks to go into much more established and clear fields," Flint said.