Page 27 - SKILLS - 2023

They also offer an Electric Vehicle Technician course.
SUNY Westchester Community College preps students for careers in energy and other fields through its Bright Futures courses, supported through the Con Edison Power of Giving Program. The college also offers a degree in Environmental Science, plus Certified Indoor
Air Quality Manager and Indoor Environmentalist classes.
Pace University features a major in
Environmental Studies and Science.
In addition, it’s home to the Energy
and Climate Change Center, focusing
on research and analysis. Pace’s law school courses
include Sustainable Business and the Environment, and Wind Energy Law and Policy. Pace also hosts an annual Sustainable Business conference held by the Westchester County Association; the two also partner on a Clean Energy Portal, a searchable online business clearinghouse for clean- energy programs and incentives. (It can be found at www.westchester.org/clean-energy-guide.)
Sustainable Westchester in Mount Kisco is another go-to source; the nonprofit consortium of local county governments collaborates on sustainability initiatives. Also, the Westchester Office of Economic Development is now part of the SUNY Clean Energy Jobs Consortium, offering education and training.
Yonkers-based nonprofit Soulful Synergy trains workers for clean-energy jobs and has partnered with social services agency the Westchester Community Opportunity Program to provide free HVAC and clean-heat training. Soulful Synergy also teams up on programs with NYSERDA and The Willdan Clean Energy Academy, run by national engineering and energy solutions firm The Willdan Group.
NYSERDA provides extensive training and employment resources that include on-the-job training and internships.
When it comes to salary, pay ranges for renewable- energy jobs vary widely based on location, skills, and experience. According to the website ZipRecruiter, as of March 2023, pay ranged from about $24,000 to nearly $140,000, with the average salary just over $72,000 a year.
Local Companies Need Talent
Westchester has attracted a variety of clean-energy companies such as Brightcore Energy in Armonk, specializing in boosting energy efficiency in commercial buildings and other sites. Curtis Instruments is a leader in electric and hybrid vehicle technology, and Dandelion Energy offers geothermal heating installation; both are based in Mount Kisco.
Solar technology gained more than 1,000 workers statewide between 2020 and 2021, according to NYSERDA.
Among the Westchester area’s solar firms are Sunrise Solar Solutions in Briarcliff Manor, SunBlue Energy in Sleepy Hollow, and Quest Solar in Yonkers.
Wind technology is taking off in a big way, too; the state is developing plans for five huge offshore wind projects — the most of any state in the nation. The first is the South Fork Wind Farm, 35 miles off Long Island’s coast; it’s scheduled to launch operations later in 2023. NYSERDA expects 10,000 new jobs overall will be created from these projects.
General Electric announced in January that if demand allows, it may build two factories
near Albany to make components for offshore wind turbines, leading to an estimated 1,000 construction jobs and about 870 longer-term positions.
Making History
NYSERDA’s clean-energy report found that jobs in alternative transportation — including electric, hybrid, plug-in, and fuel-cell hydrogen vehicles — had the most sector growth in New York, rising by 26% from 2019 to 2021.
Westchester County Airport was the site of a historic demonstration of the future of electric-powered air travel in February 2023, when the BLADE Urban Air Mobility company held its first New York City-area test flight of a piloted, electric vertical takeoff and landing craft.
Dubbed an EVA (for electric vertical aircraft), the six- passenger vehicle is operated by an all-electric propulsion system. It can take off and land like a helicopter, and cruise like a plane for a range of about 200 miles. The Westchester prototype was built by Vermont-based BETA Technology, which has a flight-test facility in Plattsburgh, NY.
“EVAs are going to change everything, because they’re battery-powered aircraft that are emission-free, and they’re nearly silent in flight,” says BLADE’s president, Melissa Tomkiel. “There are so many complaints everywhere surrounding airport noise, including in Westchester, and this technology solves that problem.”
BLADE is a Manhattan-headquartered global air- transport company providing regional helicopter and seaplane services, as well as medical transportation. Their current fleet is carbon-neutral, “and we’re heading toward becoming all-electric,” says Tomkiel. She notes that the EVA industry anticipates receiving FAA certification by the end of 2024, with passenger use likely launching in 2025.
BLADE already has a terminal at Westchester County Airport providing passenger service with their current air fleet. “We have Westchester-based employees in place, and we hope our footprint in the county grows as we start transitioning to electric technology,” adds Tomkiel.
“There’s going to be a tremendous need for more talent in the clean- energy sector. And
there’s going to have to be re-skilling and up- skilling in order to service the new energy economy.”
—Michael Romita,President and CEO, Westchester County Association
What’s Hot. What’s Next. What’s Needed. 2023 SKILLS 25