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Wallie Shaw remembers where he got the idea to do a hands-on solar panel project for his Jobs for America’s Graduates (JAG) students, a school-to-work transition program focused on helping at-risk youth graduate from high school.

Wind turbines will be used to supply electricity for the town hall, maintenance building, library and help power the town's water system.

After Eco Technologies, Inc., received a contract to install solar panels at Hillsborough County, Fla.'s judicial center, company president Andrew Tanner realized a larger staff was needed to complete the project. So Tanner hired 11 additional crew members and trained them in basic solar-panel installation. The new crew members have been working at the judicial center since early July to install a196 kW photovoltaic solar energy system that is projected to generate 40 percent of the building's power and save Hillsborough County $60,000 on annual electricity costs.

Hot water demand soars at the six-building Knox County Detention Facility in Tennessee. It's open 24/7 with 1,036 inmate beds and 4,500 meals served daily—and don't forget the laundry.

Autumn Salamack's career moved in a welcome new direction when she became the resource conservation manager for Kitsap County, Washington, in April. A $2.2 million Energy Department grant funded her position and numerous county energy conservation projects.

City officials in Glendale, Ariz. had a problem. Citizens were constantly asking them for information on how to reduce home energy consumption, but they did not have a staff member to answer the questions. That changed in June 2009, when the city hired Nancy Schwab to be the official energy education specialist.

It's easy to measure the effects of a lighting retrofit project in a city like Altoona, Pa., where 169 new LED units are expected to save $4,078 in energy costs annually. But there are also other benefits to such energy efficiency initiatives, which can be seen in the local companies that make the projects possible...

Sintered rare earth magnets - which are vital components in hybrid vehicle motors and wind turbine generators - are a $4 billion worldwide industry. Landisville, Pa.-based Electron Energy Corporation is hoping to bring a share of that market (and jobs) to the U.S. with their sintered rare earth magnet innovation.

West of Chicago, one Illinois municipality is putting its $2.2 million Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant to work on nine projects. The municipality – Kane County – is looking to save money and provide a base for green collar jobs.