Green Skills Network Career College
Venture partners will be contributing to recruitment, job development, curriculum development and training delivery. They are as follows:
- 70 Youth Employment Centres across Ontario who are current members of our Association
- Private and public trainers across Ontario
The Green Skills Network seeks to become the first cooperatively owned career college in Ontario, operating across the province and serving more than 1,000 students per year.
The Green Skills Network trains people across Ontario for careers in expanding sectors of the green economy. As interest in these sectors has grown, so has enthusiasm for courses that train people to take on the jobs in these sectors. As these sectors have grown, the labour market has openings for more positions in these fields. The goal of the Green Skills Network is to close the employment gap in these rapidly expanding sectors, by providing hands-on training in entry-level, high-demand green skills. We have close relationships with seventy (70) employment centres across the province, all of whom access or administer government employment training support programs on behalf of their 100,000+ clients, as well as numerous industry-based and public training partners.
Our four unique selling positions are
- Responsive focus on growing sectors – starting with solar panel installation and conservation retrofitting, our training programs will quickly evolve to keep pace with labour market shifts. For example, we are in discussion to add landscape rehabilitation to our curriculum ahead of provincial policy changes in this field.
- Existing direct connections to on-the-ground staff teams in seventy (70) communities across Ontario, rather than in one location
- Existing direct connections to government-supported training subsidies and supports, for all levels of government and all ages of potential student.
- Existing direct connections to networks of employers in expanding green sectors across Ontario, to improve employment results for students
These unique positions are what make our training approach innovative. Since emerging green sectors change over the years, and exhibit shifting regional strengths, sometimes in response to government policy and sometimes in response to consumer or commercial trends, our training program needs to be extremely adaptable. Since green sectors often require large geographic areas to be viable, and because so much energy and environmental policy is set on a provincial basis, we have innovatively brought together a province-wide network. And since we already have a well-developed network of thousands of employer contacts across Ontario, we have innovatively focused this asset on the challenge of supporting green economic activity.
The Green Skills network has two completely developed sets of curricula, and has gained considerable experience by implementing twelve training sessions. These trainings have resulted in 140 Green Skills Network graduates. With these pilots complete, we are ready to expand our offerings and provide the courses to students for a fee.
As Ontario seeks to advance emission reductions, there will be a higher demand for energy conservation and efficiency through retrofitting and renewable energy use. This will increase demand for the manufactured goods, highly trained technicians and general trained labourers that support these activities. The Green Skills Network contributes to this increased need by providing courses in entry-level green skills, where graduates can pursue employment in clean energy and fill labourer positions, and work towards meeting the demand for renewable energies. As the demand is met, emissions will be reduced.
The potential impact of the Green Skills Network to support emission reduction in the GTA and throughout Ontario is clear. The Green Skills Network will reduce emissions indirectly; the potential impacts come from supporting the solar PV and conservation retrofit industries by enabling them to grow by providing trained employee candidates. This will in turn lead to more renewable energy and conservation projects completed. It will also contribute to training the next generation of installers and retrofitters in the future workforce. The emission reduction impact of the Green Skills Network will be felt in the short term by allowing emission reduction companies to grow faster by hiring trained employees.
Matt Wood, First Work, Executive Director
Matt Wood is the Executive Director of First Work, which supports a sustainable youth employment network in Ontario. He is the founder of two social enterprises. Evidence Research and Evaluation and Hire Prospects, the youth survey outreach service. Evidence has contributed to the organizational development of over 40 non-profit organizations and private foundations. Hire Prospects has completed 5 provincial and national research projects. Matt has served advisory roles with the Ontario Ministries of Education, Labour and Training, Colleges and Universities. He was Vice-Chair of the National Voluntary Sector Advisory Committee on Employment for Service Canada. He sat on the Board of Directors for Voices for Children, an organization advocating on behalf of children. He advises the National organizing committee for the CANNEXUS employment counselling conference and has been on the Contact Point board. Matt has an M.E.S. in Environmental Studies from the University of Waterloo where he studied models of youth engagement. Previously, Matt worked in senior youth program management positions at the YMCA of Greater Toronto. Matt has been a consultant with the Ministry of Citizenship Culture and Recreation, as well as the Laidlaw Foundation's Youth Recreation Program.
Employment Centres across Ontario (First Work members)
First Work member centres are dedicated to delivering accessible, high quality, outcomes-based employment services to their clients to assist them in reaching their employment and life goals. Each centre has substantial experience in connecting with new employers in a variety of industries, and working with them to place clients in temporary or permanent work placements or positions. Employment centres offer a variety of services to their clients, including job coaching and retention strategies. 15 member centres have already participated in Green Skills Network projects and have expressed a strong interest in further participation.
For more information, please visit http://www.firstwork.org/wp/members/
Private and Public Trainers across Ontario
First Work subcontracts both private and public trainers to deliver our green skills courses, all of whom have extensive experience in curriculum development and course delivery. Previous course evaluations show that participants have interacted positively with all of our trainers. Previous trainers include Interect inc,ConestogaCollege,NiagaraCollege, St. Lawrence College, 3e Solutions, and Housing Services Incorporated.
The Green Skills Network has a comprehensive 80-page business plan that is currently under review. For more information or a copy of the executive summary, please contact [email protected].
The Network has generated its operational revenue in its first year primarily from grants and seed money. Organizational development and start-up challenges have already been addressed through pilot projects – we have completed curriculum review, training development, evaluation and knowledge transfer that have validated our assumptions and set the groundwork for the Network to be fully operational. Once fully established, revenue will be generated primarily from student fees.
Our target for year 5 sales is to deliver 120 3-day training courses per year across Ontario through 60 of our partners, for an estimated net of 6% per year on revenue of $855,000 per year. Full financial estimates have been developed as part of our business planning process.
Access to government training supports such as Employment Ontario, Second Career, Individual Skills Enhancement, Ontario Works and OSAP drives the Network’s marketing to attract students. Connection to government training subsidies will provide a base of 20% of our participants and 20% of our revenue on which to build. With our existing network consisting of seventy (70) employment centres that see over 120,000 clients through their doors annually, the Green Skills Network will recruit the equivalent of 1 percent per year of its networks clientele or approximately 1200 students (in year 5). Student fees will be set to align with government programs, and be competitive with similar offerings, while our narrow emphasis on entry-level employment ready training will contribute to our long-term reputation and brand recognition.
We are certain that the demand for jobs is there to sustain a well focused green career college initiative. For example, just within our initial training focus of solar panel installation and conservation retrofitting, the rapid growth of these sectors will require between 3000-4500 laborers be deployed across Ontario alone.
This initiative is structured in its start-up phase as a department of First Work, using First Work’s office space, the Executive Director’s oversight and strategic decision making, and the First Work Board accountability structure. A staff team of 3, including a coordinator responsible for all service delivery, a Marketing and Sales Coordinator to manage the creative and administrative aspects and a Research and Dissemination Coordinator to manage value added and sharing to stakeholders of the Green Skills Network. The Network will be accountable to the Board of First Work and will utilize a knowledgeable and diverse advisory committee. With support from the climate spark initiative and others, these groups will review the Network in year three to determine what options (spin off, cooperative, etc.) are most appropriate at that time. We feel a cooperative structure of a licensed career college is the most likely final form the initiative will take.
The recommendations made concerning the Green Skills Network market viability, business model, financial model and management structure are based on an analysis of the assets available and attainable. Ultimately, full operation of the Network is dependent on initial funding from grants, loans and/or investments. First Work has available the right assets and organizational capacity to successfully implement the Green Skills Network and will turn funding received into positive returns.
Comments
Flexibility
Matt - thank you for this early proposal. Building worker capacity in the green sector is key to success - this is something we have seen clearly with solar installations. I think it is a great model and that the provincial scale is a strength.
As the previous commentator has pointed out, many green sector opportunities are tied to public policy. That is why I think some of the elements you have put in place to keep the initiative nimble and responsive are very important to the success of your venture. Maybe you can talk about these a bit more - how will you keep your educational clients from being caught in policy crossfire and ending up with skills for which there is no market demand?
Crossfire
It's great that there will always be demand, but is there a way to ensure that students are prepared to be flexible?
For example, a unit in the courses that demonstrate where their new skills are transferable to?
Thanks Slyder and mpickering
We are very aware of the challenge of flexibility we need to make our proposal viable for the long term. First, we offer several training sessions throughout the province that are not as policy-dependent and can shift our weighting of our career colleges activities to those. Second, we have already developed our conservation retrofitting curriculum which is less policy-dependent since there is market demand for making buildings more effecient even without government subsidies, feed-in-tarrifs, etc.
As well, since the business model is one that emphasizes "students pay", as opposed to "government pays", or "employers pay", then what is crucial is that student demand for green training is high. We see students choices pushing for a long-term demand for green-related courses, whether or not (and perhaps in spite of) government policy changes.
The competition
I think a cooperative approach makes sense and that there's demand (both push and pull) for greener practices in building.
What will distinguish your program from, say, something like the program at Flemming College in Sustainable Building Design and Construction program? How will you attract teachers/experts to come to teach at your program?
Audience
I think the idea of a cooperatively owned career college has many positive aspects. It has become clear that in an ever changing world, equipping young people with transferable skills vitally important in increasing the employability of individuals. In addition, the fact that these transferable skills would be presented within their use within green industries, serves the dual purpose of skill development whilst promoting the importance of green issues.
I think that Matt’s comment regarding students themselves pushing forward for green related courses is a very interesting one, regardless of the latest government standpoint on green policies.
I would be interested to learn more about who this career college would be aimed at, in terms of age of participants. Is this service for youth, or for a wider population, maybe those looking to up-skill or redirect their career?
Tuition prices in comparison to larger schools?
I'm wondering if tuition would look different for this school than it does for other larger, more established post-secondary institutions?
Overall I think this sounds like a really great and necessary idea. I think it would be amazing to have some of your students have the opportunity to travel outside the country to some European countries that are more fully embracing the switch from oil to environmental friendly alternatives.
International Elements
I think that this is an excellent comment. It would be very interesting to see how this mobile education in Canada would be enhanced by input Internationally. Are there any specific exchange programs/courses currently in opperation in the green industry? Or, could a reciprical exchange program be developed to further broaden students' experiences.
not so fast?
I like to think global too, but these ideas might be a bit out of the scope of the proposal. Finding international partners is definitely a good idea, however for now I think the college should be focussed on creating successes in Ontario before it expands. Agree/disagree?
Wonderful idea
I am a labour market specialist and I know how difficult it's to match the demand and the supply side, providing that very often colleges and/or university do not respond quickly to the constanly changing labour market. The fact that this college will be very mobile and will come literally to your door to help you obtain the necessary highly in-demand transfereable skills sounds awesome!!!
I would to see this "mobility" idea to be emphasized in the proposal!
A lasting idea
Love this idea as there seem to be enough green skills initiatives across North America so that Green Skills Network can follow their best practices, add an Ontario spin and additional value, while sidestepping the challenges others have faced.
This is perhaps spelled out in the business plan, but I am curious to know how decisions are made at the Green Skills Network in a cooperative fashion. And is the GSN already cooperatively owned or is it moving towards cooperative ownership?
current cooperative ownership
Thanks for the question regarding current cooperative ownership.
Right now, the Green Skills Network is an initiative of First Work: the Ontario Association of Youth Employment Centres, which is a charitable association of non-profits. As an association, it is technically 'owned' by its members, and as a charity it's assets cannot benefit any individual, but rather must be distributed in line with our mission.
Decision-making occurs under the authority of our Board of Directors, who are all representatives of our 70 members across Ontario, elected at our AGM and through our regional structures. It has a full set of by-laws and internal policies that govern decision-making. We operate through a typical policy-governance model.
So our structure and decision-making are currently very cooperative, and once we have built and operated the Green Skills Network training options we will formally determine the new organizational structure, which we feel right now will likely be a for-profit cooperative.
Thanks for your interest, "Verticiel"
Bravo!
To catch up with immerging green energy industry, supplying manpower for the industry is critical, and you are doing just that.
It would be an improvement if you look at the whole spectrum of the green energy industry and serve on the whole industry. There is even straw bale house construction, not to mention geothermal to wind turbine. You may dig into niche players in this green energy evolution.
Straw Bale House Construction
Thank you so much your point support. I love any green energy projects. Yes, you don't want to spread out thin. Concentrate on where markets tell you the direction.
Ontario produces plenty of straw bales. It is the core building material for the straw bale construction. When you go to country, you may find beautiful bale houses. Go to www.osbbc.ca or www.strawhomes.ca. Tina of StrawHomes is a friend of mine, by the way.
Financial Strategy: Bootstrapping and your Lead Customers
Please read below.
I’m excited to see so many entrepreneurial proposals on ClimateSpark. I especially like the model of social ventures that can sustain themselves by creating their own revenue and be less dependent on grants or gifts.
In my own experience starting and building several companies, I’ve often employed “bootstrapping” techniques so I’m not dependent on external capital (VCs, etc.). One technique I’ve used successfully is to recruit one or more “lead customers” who pay me up-front for a service (e.g., consulting or something they need right away), which gives me the capital to build my product or capability for them. The big advantages: cash up-front (or early); a real customer to help make sure my design is something they’ll want to buy; and a great partner to test ideas with as I’m getting off the ground.
What’s your bootstrapping strategy? Have you tried to develop “lead customers” for your product or service? Have you talked to potential customers ? What are you doing to get cashflow from them early, so your idea can gain traction?
Clearly expressing your business value – Mock Press Release
Each proposal in ClimateSpark is bringing a valuable community based idea forward to help with energy conservation and the reduction of carbon emissions
Centennial College, School of Communications Media & Design, Corporate Communications and Public Relations Class of 2012 will be working on a set of mock press releases, in anticipation of this proposal being one of the 20 to be selected on October 31 to continue to ClimateSpark Ignite Phase 2.
If you would like to be interviewed as part of the mock press release development process, please send a note to Professor Barry Waite, [email protected] by Friday October 21, 2011.
If you choose not to be interviewed, the mock press release will be developed based on Information currently posted in the description of your idea, as well as information gleaned from the various comment interactions.
Strengths; Training that can
Strengths; Training that can be offered in any Ontario community, responds to a growing demand for practical skills training among people intersted in green jobs.
Filling a needed niche
In new industries such as these, you need to be able to respond quickly and create new training programs.
Most educational facilities offer programs based on demand, but here you are intending to anticipate demand and create new skills that are needed relatively quickly.
Great Idea!
The ClimateSpark Social Venture Challenge is a project of:
Our sponsors:
Politics?
Seems like a good idea, but what if governments who do not fund green projects come into power, decreasing green industry jobs and therefore the need for training?