The growth of a Minneapolis nonprofit in 2010 suggests that despite the rough economy there was still a market for helping people save money.
The Center for Energy and Environment added 19 new jobs last year. The organization specializes in managing energy-efficiency programs, a service they've seen increasing demand for, says program and policy manager Carl Nelson.
"In the last three to four years it's really been ramping up, and we've been doing it for 30 years," says Nelson. "We have a lot of the institutional knowledge, capacity, and ability to do these programs. We've been ready and able to meet this demand."
As a result, the Center has been a frequent partner for state, federal, and community energy-efficiency programs.
The 19 positions added in-house tell only part of the story. The full impact of its programs extends to several contractors that help implement efficiency upgrades. Using federal government guidelines for job creation estimates, the Center supported roughly 130 jobs through its largest program, a
small-business lighting program it runs with Xcel Energy.
Nelson says the Center plans to calculate a more detailed job estimate later in 2011.
Source: Carl Nelson, Center for Energy and Environment
Writer:
Dan Haugen