The rate of growth for jobs in energy efficiency nationally has increased by 500 percent since 2009 according to Coyne College that compiled data on sustainability jobs overall. Wisconsin, California, New Mexico, Texas, Indiana, Georgia, Virginia and Maryland are the top states for sustainability jobs, based on the number of job listings on SimplyHired.com. In Wisconsin, Focus on Energy, the state public benefit program, created 2,000 jobs annually and generated more than $600 million in economic benefits for the state between 2011 and 2014, according to the 2015 Focus on Energy Economic Impacts Study. By 2038, Focus will have created $2.8 billion in benefits.
Jobs in the green building sector are another major sustainable business opportunity in Wisconsin with 104,000 jobs 2011-2014 (see EOW December news), although Wisconsin did not make US Green Building Council’s 2015 top 10 states for LEED green building projects. Illinois was the leader for the third consecutive year. Other top sustainability jobs related to energy include solar power contractor, wind turbine installer, sustainable construction engineer, and hybrid vehicle technician. For more information, ib, and focus on energy exec summary