Howard County is leading the region in creating a network for so-called “green-collar jobs” to promote green technology.
The Green Business Council, created through Howard?s Economic Development Authority and Office of Environmental Sustainability, will advance the collaborative efforts of several green businesses in the county.
“Howard County could become a seeding point for green-collar jobs and business in general,” said David Pratt, principal at Lorax Partnerships, a green-building, consulting and development services company in Columbia.
Green businesses include those in energy efficiency and renewable energy, but also green architects and engineers and those in forest conservation, wildlife restoration and ecology, said Joshua Feldmark, the county?s director of the Office of Environmental Sustainability.
Ken Boras, chief executive officer of BCS Inc., an energy, environment, health and national security consulting firm in Laurel, said he was excited about the new groundbreaking effort.
“We?re hoping we can provide ideas to local government, so they might be able to improve ways [to] use energy and promote energy issues so the county can grow,” he said.
The idea emerged from county leaders continually working with those in green businesses and the realization that they benefit the county?s economy, Feldmark said.
For example, Chesapeake Solar, a solar panel company in Jessup, installed 24 panels at the Howard County Library?s East Columbia branch.
The purpose of the council is to get feedback from growing and successful companies, like E-Structors in Ellicott City, an electronics recycling company, that set an example for others by offering viable solutions, said County Executive Ken Ulman.
Ulman?s support for the council follows a 2007 American Solar Energy Society study that predicts that the 8.5 million current jobs in renewable-energy and energy-efficiency industries could grow to as many as 40 million by 2030.
The council is expected to meet at least quarterly beginning in September, officials said.
“We?ll figure out how Howard County can be a welcome home for green businesses to grow and locate,” Feldmark said.
