When Jamez Staples of North Minneapolis started a solar company about 10 years ago, he saw it as a great opportunity to create jobs for others in his low-income neighborhood.
Staples: “I thought this was going to be easy. I figured, you know, just get up, go to work, get people who wanted to work, and we’d be fine.”
But he learned that there was no easy way for people in his community to get trained as solar installers. The only programs were far away or inaccessible by bus.
So Staples bought a big old building in the neighborhood and turned it into a green workforce training center.
The building itself is topped with solar panels, runs on electric heat pumps, and has EV charging stations. So he says it also serves as a demonstration site to get people excited about clean energy.
Staples: “It’s a representation of where we’re going. It’s a representation of what the possibilities are.”
Staples’ company, Renewable Energy Partners, also developed a community solar installation in the area, to help people save money on energy bills.
And he’s partnering on a project to install solar and battery storage at local schools.
He says for him, solar energy provides more than a way to make a career for himself. He believes the energy transition can help uplift his whole community.
Staples: “So we collectively rise together.”
Reporting credit: Sarah Kennedy / ChavoBart Digital Media
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