The Grass Seems Green, But Will It Stay That Way?

By Gene Durnell
Photos: Solar Richmond

After losing her job in the printing industry, getting to the end of her unemployment benefits and almost losing her three-bedroom house and her car, Richmond resident and San Francisco native Angela Greene, 47, decided she needed a change. Looking on the city of Richmond’s website, she came across Richmond BUILD, a program training Richmond residents in carpentry and solar panel installation.

Although it was difficult to leave the printing business after 20 years – it was “like leaving home” she says – Greene has found a new home in the green economy as project manager for Solar Richmond, a Richmond BUILD partner that places graduates in full-time work and apprenticeships in the solar industry.

Solar Richmond is one of many organizations in the Bay Area and beyond that are trying to place people from disadvantaged communities and people of color into “green collar” jobs. These are green industry jobs, such as solar panel installation, or eco-friendly landscaping, that do not require much formal education or training.

Some programs, such as the Oakland Green Jobs Corps, believe that green collar jobs are “pathways out of poverty” and can help compensate for the long-term decline in the manufacturing sector, which was, in earlier times, a source of higher-paying jobs for lower-skilled workers. The early results of these programs and the market for green collar workers appear promising, but there are risks.

Green collar training programs generally take a two-pronged approach. They teach “hard” skills, such as carpentry (needed to install solar panels), as well as “soft” skills, such as interviewing and time management. After anywhere from four to ten weeks, graduates are placed in a permanent position or in an apprenticeship with green collar employers. According to Solar Richmond’s founder, Michele McGeoy, the clients her organization places earn an average of $15 to $18 per hour, plus benefits.

In a research report produced for the city of Berkeley, San Francisco State professor Raquel Pinderhughes found that the 21 Berkeley businesses she surveyed paid an average of almost $16 per hour for green collar work.

Ninety-percent of them offered benefits, and 85% said they would be willing to hire people with barriers to employment (e.g., people who have been incarcerated, do not have a high school diploma, or who have been out of the workforce for a long time).

In addition to the relatively high pay and employer flexibility, Pinderhughes believes green collar jobs offer another benefit to people from disadvantaged backgrounds. Green collar jobs “have inherent dignity and meaning,” she says, because workers know that what they do is benefiting themselves, their communities and the environment.

Although she is encouraged by the results of her research, Pinderhughes acknowledges that as green collar jobs become more common and more workers get trained, wages and benefits could decline. There is no way to prevent that except through public policy, such as local hiring requirements and living wage laws, she says.

According to Michele McGeoy of Solar Richmond, the movement of environmental issues into the mainstream of public thought, which has helped fuel the demand for green collar workers, has a downside for her clients. Because the green movement has become “hip and cool,” McGeoy says Solar Richmond graduates have to compete with college graduates, who are willing to take an entry-level job as a pathway into the solar industry.

“When you have a college grad talking to another college grad they speak the same language” of the environmental movement, she says. The common language makes it easier for the college graduates to connect with employers and puts Solar Richmond graduates at a disadvantage in the job market.

In response, Solar Richmond has incorporated more environmental terminology into its training, so graduates can “speak the lingo” when interviewing with potential employers.

Angela Greene of Solar Richmond is hopeful for the future. She is trying to get her goddaughter and other young people involved in the green economy, which she says can give them “a chance to do something big with themselves.”

“To me, this is the new dot com,” she says. She has plans for herself, as well. “Within the solar field, I’m going to find my niche,” she says. “I have a few [business ideas] in mind.”

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