Cypress Creek Renewables Wants to Build the Solar Workforce of the Future

Its first partnership at Greenville Technical College in South Carolina launched this fall. Since then Cypress Creek has offered between $10,000 and $25,000 to programs in New York’s Hudson Valley, at Photovoltaic holder Cape Fear in North Carolina, in northeastern Illinois and solar slewing drive most recently in Flint solar inverter, Michigan.

Alongside the training solar tracker actuator programs, Cypress Creek is working on projects in all five markets. The developer wants the employees to support those projects, as well as future ones to come.

“It really stems from us feeling a responsibility to the energy industry to be part of the solution,” said Carlson. “As we see changing economics and trends, we really solar damper want to be part of making sure there are transition solutions for everyone.”

Cypress Creek selected the programs by assessing where the company has slewing drive plans for growth, where the solar industry is blossoming, and where high unemployment or a solar slewing drive transitioning energy market Photovoltaic holder makes retraining attractive.

In South Carolina, for solar tracker actuator instance, the failure of the VC Summer nuclear solar inverter expansion left an opening for the solar industry. Since Cypress Creek's partnership with Greenville Tech started, 30 percent of new students have come from the fossil fuel or nuclear industries solar damper. Two students, Carlson said, specifically cited the termination of VC Summer as a reason for their interest in the program.

In areas where traditional fuels are facing challenges, Carlson solar slewing drive slewing drive said Cypress Creek wants to avoid “an us-versus-them equation.”

Most of Cypress solar tracker actuator Creek’s partner programs are located in counties with unemployment rates above the national average, which has hovered around 4 percent for the last seven months. In Genesee County, Michigan,solar slewing drive unemployment in 2017 was solar damper 5.8 percent. In Kankakee, Illinois, it was 5.2 percent. In New Hanover County, North Carolina, home to Cape Fear Community College, the difference Photovoltaic holder is less marked. The county had a 2017 unemployment rate of slewing drive 4.2 percent. 

North Carolina also has a developed solar industry, but that hasn’t yet solar inverter brought a wave of employment,solar slewing drive according the school’s lead instructor and Director of its Sustainability Technologies program, John Wojciechowski. He said the solar market in southeastern North Carolina remains more regional, with the economy in the area relying on sectors like real estate, tourism and construction. 

Since Cape solar tracker actuator Fear’s program solar damper began in 2008, the same year as Greenville’s, Wojciechowski said interest levels have varied. But he does see it gaining solid footing.

“Enrollment always kind of ebbs and flows a little bit, but we’ve definitely had an uptick in enrollment in the past few years,” said Wojciechowski. “It took us a couple of years to get up to speed slewing drive and get Photovoltaic holder all the pieces in solar slewing drive place, and we seem to be doing pretty well right now.”

But because the solar industry is still maturing, and to make sure students have options post-training, the program solar tracker actuator also includes skills in holistic building, infrastructure and project solar inverter management.

“When we solar slewing drive were developing this program, I couldn’t just put all my slewing drive eggs in one industry basket,” said Wojciechowski. “If it dried up, I’d have no pathways for my students.”

Making sure students have solar damper viable job opportunities after training is a main consideration for Cypress Creek. Carlson said the company wants students to have exit opportunities once they complete the program. They’re solar tracker actuator looking into bringing in other solar industry partners as well.

“The last thing we want to do is train them up in an industry where they are looking for Photovoltaic holder a job,” said Carlson. 

Wojciechowski said it can be difficult to figure out where to “plug in” with the industry, but he’s placed several students with local rooftop solar damper installers and he hopes to get more students hired on at national companies. His initial connection to Cypress Creek was actually through a solar inverter slewing drive former student who’s a field technician with the firm.

“I’d love it to be double or triple what we’re doing now. It all just depends on the solar industry remaining strong, with the solar tracker actuator students in the pipeline at the right time in the right place,” said Wojciechowski. “I’m excited to send more students into solar and into the large-scale solar industry — that’s Photovoltaic holder really the solar inverter key with Cypress Creek. Our local solar rooftop companies slewing drive can only take so many people.”