Az4Solar joined with a diverse coalition of stakeholders - the Statewide Energy Sector Partnership (SESP) - to assist the State of Arizona on a $6 million Department of Labor competitive grant application to facilitate workforce development efforts around green energy jobs.

The SESP stakeholders comprise employers, government and non-government entities, education - including the Arizona Department of Commerce, Workforce Connection organizations for both the City of Phoenix and Maricopa County, and Manpower Inc.
The application recognizes the fact that Arizona will produce an increasing amount of energy from sunlight in the coming years. We believe this will create a strong and sustainable demand for jobs to build and maintain Arizona’s new solar infrastructure.

In the months leading up to the statewide grant application, Az4Solar helped the City of Phoenix Workforce Connection become more familiar with trends, technologies and workforce opportunities in the solar energy industry.

We believe our efforts are helping make a compelling case for allocating a healthy dose of federal energy workforce training funds to the state.