Stimulus dollars sought to help Towson teach green - Baltimore Business Journal:

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The state is in line to receivenearlyu $53 million in American Recovery and Reinvestmenft Act funds for energy and conservation efforts, such as makinb rental homes more energy efficient. The majority of that money will be distribute d to local governments and nonprofits to launchspecifixc projects. The work will require a ranger ofgreen expertise, from contractors, consultantsa and auditors able to assess a project’s energy efficiency. Towson’s Extended Educatioj and OnlineLearning program, which trains workers to help them find new is developing a range of new courses to give workers the skills they need to compete for thosre jobs, said Director Mike Schroder.
Schroder said he hopew to partner withstate agencies, includinyg the Maryland Department of the Environment and the Marylan d Energy Administration, to seek federal stimulus money to establish and fund thoses courses. Schroder said the wave of layoffs hitting Greater Baltimorer has prompted a dramatic increasse in the number of unemployed workers seeking additional traininbg atthe university. The Extended Education program already offers onlineand on-site traininfg in a range of fields including information Homeland Security, human resources and Schroder said he hopes to expand the programn into a number of fields tied to the including training on energy efficiency and weatherization.
State leader s hope to create hundredzs of new jobs inthosd fields, bolstered by the federal stimuluas dollars. “This investment in energ y solutions for our state will be an additional catalysty for strengtheningour economy, creatingg new green-collar jobs for our workers and helping communities and residentds lower their energy bills,” Gov. Martibn O’Malley said in a statement aboutthe $53 milliob in energy-tied stimulus funds. It’s just one of numerous green effortsd undertaken byGreater Baltimore’s colleges and universities, including the , and the , Baltimord County.
Driven by a desire to reduce theidr energy costs and to meet the wishes of theirstudent bodies, the colleges are incorporatintg green practices on their campuses. That’s includedd simple things like adjusting their temperature settinges to meeting environmental building standards with their new construction projects. Green isn’t the only field in Maryland that’sz still growing, Schroder noted, and the universithy has also developed a number of courses to help train job seekers for work under the federal Base Realignmeng andClosure plan. A range of positionz are being created at FortGeorge G.
Meadd and Aberdeen Proving Ground, from information technolog y to business managementand procurement, and the Extendedx Education program is able to train workers in those fields and help them find jobs at the militaryg bases. Towson’s work force developmenf program, a non-credit offeringt from the university, was established about five yeares ago. It works with employers from state and localgovernment agencies, defense contractors and private employersa like It also works closely with the stat labor department and its network of local job centers, and has helpedc train an estimated 12,000 workers sincwe its creation, Schroder said.