Published by The Boston Globe
Governor Deval Patrick toured a Framingham energy-efficiency service company today, praising them for creating green jobs in Massachusetts and congratulating them on their successful initial public offering in July.
Ameresco, Inc., which helps companies across the world reduce their energy consumption, has doubled in size since 2005, said Patrick. He said recent growth in the clean energy sector of the Massachusetts economy during a recession signaled hope.
“The reason it works in Massachusetts from an economic point of view is that we have concentrated brain power,” he said. “We make the things we invent here.”
Over 400 solar panels have been installed in Massachusetts since the start of Patrick’s Commonwealth Solar program in 2009, according to a press release from the governor’s office.
The governor said he was glad the visit occurred the day after he defended the Cape Wind project in a gubernatorial debate with Republican candidate Charles Baker, Independent candidate Timothy Cahill and Green-Rainbow Party candidate Jill Stein.
“I left yesterday with the sense of, ‘Is this election about yesterday or tomorrow?’” he said. “This company is all about tomorrow.”
Ameresco is hiring close to 700 employees throughout the country, and the company does everything it can to hold on to its current employees, said company officials. The firm hires engineers with specific “energy engineering” degrees that equip them with the necessary skills, said Kathleen DevlinRuggiero, vice president of human resources.
Patrick offered the company help from the state in recruiting and training the types of employees needed. He met with a panel of employees behind closed doors before answering questions from the press.
Ruggiero spoke about training engineers who are currently out of work and utilizing local college programs such as those offered by University of Massachusetts Lowell and Northeastern University. She said the company offers tuition reimbursement and allows employees to work from home because finding enough qualified employees is such a challenge.
Patrick and the panel discussed challenges to making Boston more energy-efficient, such as changing the attitudes of renters and landlords who do not see the long-term economic benefits of energy saving approaches.
During his tour of the office, Patrick spoke briefly with Sarah Simon, Environmental Compliance manager, asking her about landfill gas and wastewater gas projects. Simon said Ameresco currently has 26 projects across the country which sell gas from landfills, and they have two wastewater plants.
“We don’t do enough of this here, it seems,” said Patrick, examining the list of plants. He suggested Ameresco partner with a landfill in Taunton, which he says is looking for an energy partner.
Ameresco recommends technologies and products to companies looking to lower their carbon footprints and save money, said Carolann Hibbard, vice president of strategic marketing and communications. The 10-year-old company designs and installs projects for the Federal government, schools, healthcare and utility companies and other customers.
Ameresco also has the largest amount of energy savings performance contracts of any company with the Federal Department of Housing and Development, company officials said. They are currently looking to train tenants of housing units in San Francisco for green jobs.
Mayor Thomas Menino contracted Ameresco in March to make $63 million worth of energy-efficient improvements on Boston Housing Authority facilities, which is the largest sustainable public housing project in the country, according to a press release from Ameresco.
Showing posts with label Deval Patrick. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Deval Patrick. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Monday, April 13, 2009
Gov. Patrick announces second round of stimulus money to Mass. schools
BOSTON—High-poverty Massachusetts schools will be receiving $163 million as part of the second phase of federal stimulus money for education, Gov. Deval Patrick announced Thursday.
The distribution of funds among districts was based on the proportion of low-income students in the district’s total population, said Jonathan Palumbo, spokesperson for Patrick’s office. Districts can decide how to use the money as long as they meet certain requirements, such as saving teaching jobs, said Palumbo.
“If we want to build sustainability into the school system, maintain the level of services and make progress towards the goal of student achievement at all levels, the government made the case that we needed to do everything we could that education was properly funded,” he said.
Massachusetts will receive a total of $1.88 billion in stimulus money for education over the next two years, said Palumbo. The funds announced last week are being dispersed under Title 1, a 40-year-old federal program for low-income school districts, he said. Schools will receive the first half in July and the second half in the fall.
Massachusetts schools have never received this much government funding before, said Colleen Coburn, policy advisor for Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry. The inclusion of education in the stimulus package is due in part to advocacy from politicians like Sen. Kerry and Gov. Patrick, she said.
“The money through the Recovery Act just going out now is more that has gone to education in almost every single category in the entire last year combined,” said Coburn.
The stimulus package also breaks new ground in transparency, because schools have to apply for the funds, specify their use and report how they were allocated on a set timeline, said Coburn.
“People think the federal government is just sending out checks,” said Coburn. “A goal of the [Obama] administration is to hold people more accountable and make transactions transparent. We want all this to be public information.”
The first round of stimulus money was for state stabilization, and the federal government mandated that 82 percent of these funds go to education to meet district budget gaps, said Coburn. The state could decide how the remaining 18 percent will be spent on government services. Boston Public Schools did not receive funds in the first round, said Coburn.
The third and final round of federal education funding will be allocated for special needs education under the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA), she said.
Boston Public Schools will receive about $20.8 million in Title 1 stimulus funds, which is $3.8 million more than Superintendent Carol Johnson expected when she approved the 2010 budget last month, said Chris Horan, spokesperson for the district. In that budget, Johnson recommended areas that could use additional funding if BPS received more money, he said.
Johnson’s recommendations included $1.4 million for students with disabilities, because BPS did not receive enough IDEA funds, said Horan. The federal government requires the rest of the money to be split evenly between protecting teaching jobs and investments such as textbooks and teacher training, he said.
Horan said Mayor Thomas Menino promised to restore all teaching positions if the Boston Teachers Union agrees to a one-year wage freeze, which would save the district an estimated $30 million.
Wage freezes have already saved 200 jobs, and continued negotiations with unions to freeze wages are likely to save most teaching jobs, said Coburn.
Springfield Public School District is receiving $8.6 billion from Title 1, the most of any district in Massachusetts other than Boston, according to the Massachusetts State website. Worcester is next, receiving $3.9 billion. Holyoke and Lawrence are receiving $3.1 million each.
Schools must remember to budget each lump sum for the next two fiscal years, said Coburn. In addition, a district’s financial status may change from year to year and receive more or less funding through Title 1, she said.
“A lot of people think all the money should go into schools now, but in reality, the government is anticipating a gap,” said Coburn. “What schools need is going to be even bigger a year from now.”
Because federal stimulus money from the Recovery and Reinvestment Act has not been distributed yet, the stimulus package’s success is still unmeasured, said Cindy Roy, spokesperson for the Massachusetts Office of Administration and Finance. Massachusetts must track every dollar being spent to show taxpayers where there money is going, she said.
“It’s a $700 billion bill. It is going to be complicated,” said Roy. “But were communicating with the federal government, they’re communicating with us … as we get further into the process it, will get easier for everybody.”
The distribution of funds among districts was based on the proportion of low-income students in the district’s total population, said Jonathan Palumbo, spokesperson for Patrick’s office. Districts can decide how to use the money as long as they meet certain requirements, such as saving teaching jobs, said Palumbo.
“If we want to build sustainability into the school system, maintain the level of services and make progress towards the goal of student achievement at all levels, the government made the case that we needed to do everything we could that education was properly funded,” he said.
Massachusetts will receive a total of $1.88 billion in stimulus money for education over the next two years, said Palumbo. The funds announced last week are being dispersed under Title 1, a 40-year-old federal program for low-income school districts, he said. Schools will receive the first half in July and the second half in the fall.
Massachusetts schools have never received this much government funding before, said Colleen Coburn, policy advisor for Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry. The inclusion of education in the stimulus package is due in part to advocacy from politicians like Sen. Kerry and Gov. Patrick, she said.
“The money through the Recovery Act just going out now is more that has gone to education in almost every single category in the entire last year combined,” said Coburn.
The stimulus package also breaks new ground in transparency, because schools have to apply for the funds, specify their use and report how they were allocated on a set timeline, said Coburn.
“People think the federal government is just sending out checks,” said Coburn. “A goal of the [Obama] administration is to hold people more accountable and make transactions transparent. We want all this to be public information.”
The first round of stimulus money was for state stabilization, and the federal government mandated that 82 percent of these funds go to education to meet district budget gaps, said Coburn. The state could decide how the remaining 18 percent will be spent on government services. Boston Public Schools did not receive funds in the first round, said Coburn.
The third and final round of federal education funding will be allocated for special needs education under the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA), she said.
Boston Public Schools will receive about $20.8 million in Title 1 stimulus funds, which is $3.8 million more than Superintendent Carol Johnson expected when she approved the 2010 budget last month, said Chris Horan, spokesperson for the district. In that budget, Johnson recommended areas that could use additional funding if BPS received more money, he said.
Johnson’s recommendations included $1.4 million for students with disabilities, because BPS did not receive enough IDEA funds, said Horan. The federal government requires the rest of the money to be split evenly between protecting teaching jobs and investments such as textbooks and teacher training, he said.
Horan said Mayor Thomas Menino promised to restore all teaching positions if the Boston Teachers Union agrees to a one-year wage freeze, which would save the district an estimated $30 million.
Wage freezes have already saved 200 jobs, and continued negotiations with unions to freeze wages are likely to save most teaching jobs, said Coburn.
Springfield Public School District is receiving $8.6 billion from Title 1, the most of any district in Massachusetts other than Boston, according to the Massachusetts State website. Worcester is next, receiving $3.9 billion. Holyoke and Lawrence are receiving $3.1 million each.
Schools must remember to budget each lump sum for the next two fiscal years, said Coburn. In addition, a district’s financial status may change from year to year and receive more or less funding through Title 1, she said.
“A lot of people think all the money should go into schools now, but in reality, the government is anticipating a gap,” said Coburn. “What schools need is going to be even bigger a year from now.”
Because federal stimulus money from the Recovery and Reinvestment Act has not been distributed yet, the stimulus package’s success is still unmeasured, said Cindy Roy, spokesperson for the Massachusetts Office of Administration and Finance. Massachusetts must track every dollar being spent to show taxpayers where there money is going, she said.
“It’s a $700 billion bill. It is going to be complicated,” said Roy. “But were communicating with the federal government, they’re communicating with us … as we get further into the process it, will get easier for everybody.”
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Parents react to Gov. Patrick's anti-obesity campaign in Mass. schools
Created for BUTV's Inside Boston
This proposed regulation was passed by the Massachusetts public health council on April 8, 2009
This proposed regulation was passed by the Massachusetts public health council on April 8, 2009
Gov., Kumar actor rally support for Obama
By Katrina Ballard and Vivian Ho
PUBLISHED by The Daily Free Press
Gov. Deval Patrick and actor Kal Penn of Harold and Kumar go to White Castle fame stumped around the Boston University campus yesterday, hoping to drum up youth support for presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama.
Patrick urged more than 100 Obama campaign volunteers to spread the word about his presidential pick at a phone-banking training session last night at Morse Auditorium, while Penn's afternoon stop at BU Central drew more than 150 students to a question-and-answer session.
"It will work and succeed only if you make it personal," Patrick said. "If you, when you're making those calls, tell them your own stories about why this is the right man for right now . . . then Sen. Obama wins in Massachusetts."
Patrick's training session marked the start of a five-day "Get Out the Vote" drive, during which volunteers plan to call, canvas and knock on doors in hopes of racking up votes for Obama, Patrick committee field consultant Eli Forsythe said.
"[Volunteers] are the ones that have the voter-to-voter contact that's so important, and the governor is the embodiment of how that is successful," Patrick's spokesman Steve Crawford said.
Patrick, who publicly endorsed Obama in October, told volunteers that although Obama's campaign faces an "uphill battle in Massachusetts," he believes Obama is the best candidate for president.
Northeastern University Democrats President Caitlin Coyle said she thinks Obama represents her generation the best of all candidates, and he is the only candidate who can create change.
"I'm tired of being disappointed with these politicians, and I've yet to be disappointed by anything Obama has done," Coyle said. "I think that because Obama has this type of energy . . . he's really got the youth vote."
BU College of Arts and Sciences sophomore Sam Cerra said she hopes students will try to find more ways to get politically involved.
"It's not just about the older generation," she said. "You can be involved, and things can change in a direction that we want them."
Penn told students at BU Central that his involvement in the Obama campaign marks the first time he's used his pop culture appeal to rally voters.
"I'm not Oprah," Penn said. "This is the first time I've volunteered for something like this."
Penn said after hearing Obama speak at the 2004 Democratic Convention, he became "inspired."
"The TV was on in the background, and somebody was speaking, and I just heard this one line," he said. "It said, 'Especially after 9/11, we shouldn't allow ourselves to be divided between red states or blue states. We should focus on being the United States.' This was Barack, and I was just sitting there thinking, 'This guy should be president.'"
Penn, who started campaigning for Obama in October, stopped at BU as part of a Boston-area tour aiming to gather student votes for Obama.
Penn answered crowd questions about Obama's stance on immigration, health care and foreign affairs as well as his stance on racial and gender divides.
"In my lifetime, I was always referred to as Indian-American before my name," he said. "Since I've joined Sen. Barack's campaign, I've yet to hear anyone described along racial, ethnic, sexuality or gender terms in the day-to-day. He transcends that approach, I think partly from his family background."
Penn said he has been inspired by the wide-reaching appeal Obama has.
"What was so neat was that initially there was a disproportionate number of young people in Barack's corner," he told The Daily Free Press. "As the hour and half progressed, there were older voters in their 60s and 70s who were so inspired seeing masses of young people supporting a candidate that they . . . changed their minds at the last minute to support Barack."
Penn said he likes speaking to college students because he connects to their concerns, but added he sees a "variety of the crowds" along the diverse Obama campaign trail.
"It was the little kid sitting cross-legged in front of the podium and a 101-year-old who stood up from his wheelchair," he said. "It was black, white, everything and everyone else. It's about an extraordinary leader."
PUBLISHED by The Daily Free Press
Gov. Deval Patrick and actor Kal Penn of Harold and Kumar go to White Castle fame stumped around the Boston University campus yesterday, hoping to drum up youth support for presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama.
Patrick urged more than 100 Obama campaign volunteers to spread the word about his presidential pick at a phone-banking training session last night at Morse Auditorium, while Penn's afternoon stop at BU Central drew more than 150 students to a question-and-answer session.
"It will work and succeed only if you make it personal," Patrick said. "If you, when you're making those calls, tell them your own stories about why this is the right man for right now . . . then Sen. Obama wins in Massachusetts."
Patrick's training session marked the start of a five-day "Get Out the Vote" drive, during which volunteers plan to call, canvas and knock on doors in hopes of racking up votes for Obama, Patrick committee field consultant Eli Forsythe said.
"[Volunteers] are the ones that have the voter-to-voter contact that's so important, and the governor is the embodiment of how that is successful," Patrick's spokesman Steve Crawford said.
Patrick, who publicly endorsed Obama in October, told volunteers that although Obama's campaign faces an "uphill battle in Massachusetts," he believes Obama is the best candidate for president.
Northeastern University Democrats President Caitlin Coyle said she thinks Obama represents her generation the best of all candidates, and he is the only candidate who can create change.
"I'm tired of being disappointed with these politicians, and I've yet to be disappointed by anything Obama has done," Coyle said. "I think that because Obama has this type of energy . . . he's really got the youth vote."
BU College of Arts and Sciences sophomore Sam Cerra said she hopes students will try to find more ways to get politically involved.
"It's not just about the older generation," she said. "You can be involved, and things can change in a direction that we want them."
Penn told students at BU Central that his involvement in the Obama campaign marks the first time he's used his pop culture appeal to rally voters.
"I'm not Oprah," Penn said. "This is the first time I've volunteered for something like this."
Penn said after hearing Obama speak at the 2004 Democratic Convention, he became "inspired."
"The TV was on in the background, and somebody was speaking, and I just heard this one line," he said. "It said, 'Especially after 9/11, we shouldn't allow ourselves to be divided between red states or blue states. We should focus on being the United States.' This was Barack, and I was just sitting there thinking, 'This guy should be president.'"
Penn, who started campaigning for Obama in October, stopped at BU as part of a Boston-area tour aiming to gather student votes for Obama.
Penn answered crowd questions about Obama's stance on immigration, health care and foreign affairs as well as his stance on racial and gender divides.
"In my lifetime, I was always referred to as Indian-American before my name," he said. "Since I've joined Sen. Barack's campaign, I've yet to hear anyone described along racial, ethnic, sexuality or gender terms in the day-to-day. He transcends that approach, I think partly from his family background."
Penn said he has been inspired by the wide-reaching appeal Obama has.
"What was so neat was that initially there was a disproportionate number of young people in Barack's corner," he told The Daily Free Press. "As the hour and half progressed, there were older voters in their 60s and 70s who were so inspired seeing masses of young people supporting a candidate that they . . . changed their minds at the last minute to support Barack."
Penn said he likes speaking to college students because he connects to their concerns, but added he sees a "variety of the crowds" along the diverse Obama campaign trail.
"It was the little kid sitting cross-legged in front of the podium and a 101-year-old who stood up from his wheelchair," he said. "It was black, white, everything and everyone else. It's about an extraordinary leader."
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