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Gov. Culver: Announces $1.1 million for green economy initiatives
11/18/2009

Contact:
Troy Price, Governor’s Office
(515) 281.0173
troy.price@iowa.gov

Kerry Koonce, Iowa Workforce Development
(515) 281.9646
kerry.koonce@iwd.iowa.gov

An additional $3.8 million will be split between six states

DES MOINES – Governor Chet Culver announced today that Iowa is receiving $1.1 million under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) to study the “green” jobs market.

Under ARRA, the federal government created a series of competitive grants to promote economic growth and assist in the development of new technologies. Iowa will use its grant to gather information on the labor supply and demand involved in growing a green economy.

“As Governor, I am committed to growing our economy in all sectors – especially renewable energy,” said Governor Culver. “These funds will help us identify new and innovative ways to grow this important industry and create more green-collar jobs of the future. I want to thank the Obama Administration for recognizing our strength in renewable energy and helping us build Iowa’s future.”

The U.S. Department of Labor selected the Iowa State Labor Market Information Improvement Grant to receive $1,172,614. The project is a partnership between the Governor’s Office, Iowa Workforce Development, Iowa Central Community College, MidAmerican Energy and the University of Northern Iowa Institute for Decision Making. The funds will be used to study Iowa’s labor supply and demand within the green economy, and study the state’s need to build deconstruction and recycling capacities and develop a human capital inventory.

A partnership between the workforce agencies in Iowa, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming also received $3,877,949 to research the green economy’s impact across the states, develop a consortium for improvement processes and enhance the labor exchange process between the states.

Governor Culver and Lt. Governor Patty Judge have been tireless advocates for renewable energy in Iowa. Their signature energy independence initiative, the Iowa Power Fund, is a $100- million research and development fund that will discover the future of renewable energy and reduce our use of fossil fuels. They created the Office of Energy Independence, a statewide office that is helping to reduce our state’s energy use. In addition, they have worked hard to bring new green energy companies into Iowa.  As a result of their work, Iowa is home to several major wind energy manufacturers, and will soon be home to one of the first cellulosic ethanol plants in the nation.  


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