Clean energy industry: Job numbers solid

By Emily Reichert

The December 3, 2015 article “Do clean energy jobs add up?” in Commonwealth Magazine raises questions about the methodology of counting jobs in Massachusetts in the annual report on the clean energy sector prepared for the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center. At Greentown Labs based in Somerville, MA, we can speak to what we see on the ground as a participant in a very vibrant ecosystem.  In our community of clean technology startups, job growth rates have exceeded those outlined in the report and we expect that to continue.

Greentown Labs began in 2011 with four startups and a handful of entrepreneurs who banded together after graduating MIT to find affordable space to build prototypes for their wind, energy storage, energy efficiency, and efficient compression technologies. Today, Greentown Labs is the largest clean technology incubator in the country, home to more than forty companies, most of them focused on building physical products to solve the world’s biggest energy and environmental challenges.  We provide space, resources, and access to investors and networks to help new companies grow and fund their businesses.

These forty companies, along with nearly that many that have moved out of our space and moved into to their own, employ more than 400 people. Many of these companies occupied a desk and as little as 100 square feet of lab space at their start with us. Two years later, they employ up to 20 people and operate out of their own 5,000 to 10,000 square foot facilities in Greater Boston and beyond. Our startups have raised more than $130 million in funding.

We believe the clean energy ecosystem is thriving because it leverages and builds upon the commonwealth’s world-class education cluster, history of innovation and entrepreneurial spirit, supportive policy environment, and private sector that is willing to partner to bring new ideas to market. Our corporate partners, leading energy companies like National Grid, EnerNOC, Engie, Shell, Saint-Gobain and GE, are working with and alongside entrepreneurs in the lab.  They serve as mentors, investors, pilot sites, and first customers. In our view, the sum of all these factors creates a perfect storm for continued strong job growth for the industry.

For most of 2015, our current incubator facility in Somerville was full with a waiting list. On October 29, Greentown Labs announced an $11 million expansion to more than double in size over the next year. The plan is to retrofit an auto body repair shop next door and transform it into a 53,000 square foot facility that serves as a global center for clean technology innovation, right here in Massachusetts. At capacity, the space along with our existing lab, may accommodate as many as 100 startups. We expect to attract even more companies – and jobs – from outside New England.

From our vantage point, our prediction is that double-digit jobs growth in the clean energy sector will continue in the near term. We are excited to be a small part of that success.

Emily Reichert is the chief executive officer of Greentown Labs. 

By David Miller

Regarding “Do clean energy jobs add up?” as an investor in startup companies in Massachusetts, my experience is that they do.

I and my partners chose to focus on investing in clean energy companies in this region a number of years ago because we were starting to see more and more of these companies being created.  Based on the number of jobs we’ve seen created at the companies we’ve invested in in Massachusetts, the rapid growth we’ve seen in the clean energy economy in the state (as evidenced by the nearly gigawatt of solar energy installed), and our No. 1 energy efficiency ranking in the country, my gut reaction is that job numbers reported by the state in the recent report are too low.

As a researcher at MIT and as an investor, I’ve learned that gut reactions can be way off, and to better trust a competently performed independent analysis.  Though an analysis of jobs in as diverse an industry as clean energy can never be precise, I see no strong reason not to trust BW Research Partnership’s analysis. Based on my direct experience, I believe that it’s at least as likely that the study under-reported the number of clean energy jobs in Massachusetts.

 David Miller is executive managing director of the Clean Energy Venture Group.

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