President Barack Obama during his campaign said, "America can build a clean-energy future while creating five million new green jobs right here in the United States for our workers." And I've taken him at his word.

Back in 2002, my wife Patrice and I founded American Medical Careers, and since then we have trained over 3,500 people for family-supporting careers.

During this past seven years, we've seen an incredible societal need for these Career Programs. There have been many people who wanted to get trained for careers, but medical careers were not a good match.

When I fully realized we had to create some alternatives, was when one Dad came in with his daughter (I've got three daughters and three granddaughters). And while she kicked her heels on her chair, he literally begged me to train him, so he could take care of his family. He said, "No one will help me."...

But he had a criminal conviction, so he could never work in the medical field....  I had to apologize, and turn him away.

So... I created a new Division for my Career School..., called American Green Career

We're the first school in the State to have licensed six Green Job Training Programs..., for our schools in Flint, Lansing & Detroit...:

1.   Energy Efficiency Technician

2.   Solar Energy Technician

3.   Small Wind Energy Technician

4.   Renewable Energy Technician

5.   Green Concrete Masonry

6.   Green Building & Renovation

Each program is 300 class hours or 10 weeks in length, with classroom lecture, hands-on laboratory skills practice, as well as supervised on-the-job learning experiences. Each program is designed to lead to a third-party Certification examination.

Furthermore, our objective is that every graduate will either participate in a paid one-year US Dept. of Labor Registered Apprenticeship, or an Entrepreneurship Training & Development Program.

So, ... what is the demand creating these Green Jobs? When students graduate from their programs, will they be able to open the newspaper as they could in California or Massachusetts, and see ‘Help Wanted' ads for "Solar Panel Installers?

That is the $787 Billion question! And there are $113 billion in answers, in the form of clean energy investments from the Economic Recovery Bill! This tsunami of Recovery Funds has people falling all over themselves to start businesses to capture it. Demand is being created and businesses are spinning up to serve that demand.

A new report just released by the U.S. Conference of Mayors says that we can create more than 4 million green jobs if we aggressively shift away from traditional fossil fuels toward alternative energy and a significant improvement in energy efficiency.

Van Jones says in his NY Times bestseller, The Green Collar Economy

"The bottom line is: you can't base a national economy on credit cards. But you can base it on solar panels, wind turbines, smart bio-fuels and a massive program to weatherize every building and home in America."

Hundreds of governmental initiatives are targeting and funding growth in this area. President Obama has committed to doubling U.S. renewable energy by 2012, and plans to invest $150 billion over 10 years toward the nation's clean energy economy. He expects these initiatives to create five million new green jobs, and has made it a priority to, (Quote), "Ensure that American workers have the skills and tools they need to pioneer the first wave of green technologies that will be in high demand throughout the world."

Governor Granholm's last State of the State address laid out policy changes for Utilities to front the cost of residential energy efficiency upgrades, to be paid back over time by energy savings.

She has founded a 10,000-strong Green Energy Corps, drawn from the under-employed to renovate low-income housing with $100 Million in Energy Efficiency upgrades.

The Governor has even proposed a ‘Feed-in Tariff' where utilities will pay producers a premium for excess renewable energy being sent into the grid. This could make any homeowner or business a profitable mini-utility.

"So, where are these Green Jobs, anyway?"

There are jobs in this emerging business sector, and they are being driven by government incentives and regulation. We've been told to expect a ‘carbon tax' or Cap & Trade Bill on carbon dioxide this year, a greenhouse gas partially responsible for global warming, which will attach new fees to dirty energy, and increase the value of renewable energy.

Today we have the most money in the history of the universe being thrown into the economy, much of it directed at Green industries.

There are new building code regulations on how energy efficient new construction has to be. And we've had a mature Energy-Savings industry for years, which shares the savings they bring to large businesses in energy cost reductions.

We are tracking these funding initiatives as they come into Michigan, and we are creating relationships with those businesses which will need trained employees.

We are also supporting the establishment of businesses in our Program areas, creating school/ business partnerships which will provide on-the-job work experiences for students, apprenticeships and placements for graduates, as well as franchising opportunities for entrepreneurs.

And we're working closely with the State of Michigan's "Green Jobs Initiative", and with Regional Workforce Development Agencies to match training with jobs.

• There is huge demand for Green Careers that will support families, especially in Michigan.
• There are numerous powerful forces driving the creation of Green Businesses and Green Jobs. Businesses are responding rapidly.
• We are establishing direct connections between Green Job Training Graduates and the employers who need them.

I can't say today exactly what it will look like, but in the next few months, I know we'll be graduating Green Program students, and we will already have Green Jobs lined up, in Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Generation.

Now, where is that guy I had to turn away with his daughter?

I've now got something to offer him!