Economy, Energy and Environment Initiative supports manufacturing

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) on October 20, joined the U.S. Department of Commerce, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the U.S. Small Business Administration and the U.S. Department of Labor in signing a Memorandum of Understanding in support of the Economy, Energy and Environment Initiative. The goal of this effort, known more commonly as the E3 Initiative, is to assist manufacturers in becoming more efficient, competitive, and sustainable through public-private partnerships. E3 focuses on helping small and medium enterprises (SMEs) advance efforts to use lean, clean, and energy-efficient practices to conserve energy, reduce environmental impacts, preserve jobs, and enhance overall competitiveness.

With each local project, federal agencies work with local utility companies to help strategically coordinate and target concrete assistance to the SMEs. This assistance includes:

• Plant-specific assessments to identify and prioritize opportunities to reduce costs and waste, improve productivity and efficiency, and measure greenhouse gas (GHS) emissions
• Training for partners to prevent pollution and reduce toxic chemical use
• Recruitment, screening, and referral services to help employers hire skilled workers
• Assistance in making adjustments to business and strategic plans to incorporate assessment recommendations
• Tailored information on available financial resources and training
• Pre-participation financial stability assessments of potential E3 participating companies
• Ongoing opportunities to report progress and network with others about benefits and challenges.

With several successful projects underway in Alabama, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Texas, West Virginia, and Wisconsin, E3 is already at work forging opportunities for economic growth and job creation. Working together, the signatories to the E3 agreement offer a holistic, integrated and practical approach to tackling a range of sustainability issues, saving time, building off of each other’s strengths, and reducing complexity for manufacturers seeking to lower their energy costs and sharpen their competitive edge.

DOE’s participation in E3 is being coordinated through the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s Industrial Technologies Program (ITP). In addition to offering tools and resources for use in E3 projects, ITP is engaging the DOE-sponsored Industrial Assessment Centers to provide E3 partners with on-site energy assessments.

Other programs involved in the initiative include EPA’s Green Suppliers Network and Climate Leaders Program; DOC’s Manufacturing Extension Partnership within the National Institute of Standards and Technology; DOL’s Employment and Training Administration; and SBA’s Small Business Development Program. Each of these programs works with a range of experts and stakeholders at the state and local level, including state pollution prevention programs, state energy offices, mayors and local county executives, utility companies, manufacturing enterprises, and universities, among others.

For a copy of the E3 Memorandum of Understanding and additional information on the E3 community partnerships currently underway across the country, please see the E3: Economy, Energy and Environment Fact Sheet.

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Posted by Valerie J. Amor on Nov 7 2010. Filed under Broward County, Emerging Green, Federal Government, Local news. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry