Men hope to lure 'green' jobs
Wednesday, February 04, 2009
WILMINGTON — They are working out of donated downtown office space, with donated furniture. They don't own cars. They aren't paying themselves salaries. They are living at home with parents, to save money.
If austerity translated into shares of stock, Taylor Stuckert and Mark Rembert might have it made.
They formed a not-for-profit organization called Energize Clinton County, to promote job creation in the Wilmington area through home weatherization projects and rebuilding the county's economy by developing businesses in renewable energy sources such as wind power and solar energy.
They are promoting a legal designation of Clinton County as "green enterprise zone" to encourage research and development there of energy- and materials-conserving systems and techniques, and to reward existing businesses that conserve. They are lobbying Ohio's U.S. senators for a piece of the proposed federal stimulus funding bill to support the envisioned Wilmington new-energy economy.
Along with the region's public officials, Stuckert and Rembert are motivated by the economic crisis created by express shipper DHL's cost-cutting to phase out its U.S. cargo hub at Wilmington. State and local officials have projected that will eliminate as many as 10,000 jobs at what had been the region's biggest employer.
Many of the layoffs already have occurred, driving up unemployment compensation claims and uncompensated use of health care services.
"Our focus is materials and energy efficiency," Stuckert said. "We want to create a culture for people to use what they have. If you are struggling with finances because you are out of work, the best way to put money in your pocket is to conserve what you have.
"Energy is one way of doing that. If you could save 25 percent on your energy bill, that's money in your pocket," he said. "If you can re-use a zip-lock container without buying another one, that's money in your pocket."
Stuckert and Rembert, who co-founded their organization after writing letters to the editor of the Wilmington News-Journal about their concerns, are getting exposure by using tools ingrained in the twenty-something generation.
They started up their Web site, at energizecc.com, in November. They update a blog on it and accept "guest blogs." Energize Clinton County has a presence on Facebook, the social networking site.
Stuckert and Rembert said they have an open-ended commitment to their effort. They are trying to raise money to operate their organization, they said.
Their effort reflects the commitment of some in their generation to stay in Ohio to try and improve the society they inherited, said Ned Hill, vice president of economic development at Cleveland State University. Students studying urban planning, economic development and similar disciplines in Cleveland State's College of Urban Affairs want to resolve rust-belt problems in Ohio, a state which has traditionally lost legions of college graduates to other markets, Hill said.
"They want to walk the walk, not just talk the talk," he said. "Our motto is ... changing America's cities, one graduate at a time."
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2242 or jnolan@DaytonDailyNews.com.
