Kokomo — Job seekers, Travis Murphy may have some ideas on where to look for available positions.
Murphy, renewable energy program manager with the Indiana Department of Energy, will speak Tuesday at the Tipton County Chamber Luncheon at the Tipton County Foundation.
Murphy will discuss solar and wind energy and the new jobs the two Earthly elements can create.
In March, Tipton County commissioners changed the county’s zoning ordinance to prepare for wind farms locating within the county. Interest by counties looking to attract the jobs is an offshoot of President Barack Obama’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which earmarked billions of dollars for renewable energy industries in the form of tax credits grants and loans.
Locally, the act initiated Delphi Electronics and Safety’s multi-million dollar project to produce electric-hybrid vehicle technology and Colorado-based solar panel manufacturer Abound Solar Inc.’s plans to produce solar panels at the former Getrag Transmission LLC plant.
As a result, with more energy jobs available, Murphy said “I’d love to get more solar and wind jobs in Indiana and put displaced workers back to work.”
While Indiana’s unemployment rate remains above 10 percent, stronger energy and climate policies could create a significant number of jobs in Indiana, especially in manufacturing, according to a new study by the San Francisco-based Apollo Alliance, “How to Keep Creating Clean Energy Jobs in Indiana.”
The Apollo Alliance is a coalition of national labor, business, environmental and community leaders focused on clean-energy jobs.
The Alliance’s report states strong federal clean energy and climate policies could create up to 117,000 jobs in Indiana by 2030, and many of these jobs would be created in the manufacturing sector, which has been decimated in locally and throughout the state with the downturn of the U.S. auto industry and the bankruptcies of Kokomo’s two largest employers, Delphi and Chrysler Group LLC.
During his presentation, Murphy will address Indiana’s current status with regard to renewable energy, solar technology and wind technology, and also what lies ahead for the state in terms of solar and wind energy. According to Murphy, out-of-work auto assembly-line workers could potentially see job openings in the future in the renewable energy industry.
“There is a connection between what happens on an automotive assembly line and what happens on a solar-energy assembly line,” said Murphy. “If you can work a line in automotive, you can work a line in solar.”
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