Chambers for Innovation and Clean Energy (CICE) partnered with the Florida Association of Chamber Professionals to present a panel discussion, ‘Clean Energy - Powering Workforce Development’ at FACP’s bi-annual meeting on May 11, 2022. The panel included:
- Britta Gross, Orlando Utilities Commissioner
- Adrian Brand, Sales and Experience Center Manager, Arcimoto
- Racquel Asa, Chief Marketing Officer, BEEP
- Don Long, Co-host and CEO, Lake Nona Regional Chamber
The panel, moderated by CICE’s Alan Byrd, discussed how rapid growth of the clean energy sector presents economic opportunity in Florida and how critical it is to have a workforce with the right skills and training in order to attract clean energy companies to both urban and rural areas. A key message for the audience of chamber of commerce executives, was to keep in mind that from June to August, hundreds of millions in federal funding will flow into Florida thanks to the passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). That funding can be used for transit and clean energy advanced manufacturing, and approximately $200M is coming to the Florida Department of Transportation for EV Charging alone.
Additional key takeaways from the discussion:
Supply Chain and Investment: Britta Gross of the Orlando Utilities Commission emphasized, “This is a moment in time - if we don’t jump on board, we’ll lose significant GDP - due to global competition. There is urgency and a need to manufacture chips and batteries in the US.” This presents an opportunity for Florida as auto manufacturers make multi-billion investment in EVs.
Chamber Innovation Insight: Panel co-host and CEO of the Lake Nona Regional Chamber Don Long said that Florida communities need to demonstrate they are ‘willing to innovate’. The entrepreneurial culture built in Lake Nona sends this message. Don urged communities to ‘look at forming a cluster of clean energy companies.”
Key Economic Impact for Businesses: Britta Gross provided additional compelling statistics. “By 2030 50% of cars sold will be EVs and 100% by 2035. I’d recommend looking at tourist spots where people want to spend time and install chargers at resorts. For every one minute a person spends in a store while their car is charging, they will spend $1. With a level 2 charger, they may be in a retail location for 50 minutes and will spend $50. See who is willing to raise their hand for having chargers on their property. Be a matchmaker and start to marry the chargers to your member businesses and property owners.”
First and Last Mile Innovation: BEEP has the longest running autonomous vehicle network in the US. According to Racquel Asa of BEEP, “We are solving the first and last mile problem and improving transit’. Racquel went on to say “workforce development is significant for us at BEEP. One of our employees started as a shuttle operator and is now an autonomous vehicle support engineer’.
Workforce Development: EV manufacturer Arcimoto, maker of a three-wheel and very affordable vehicle, brought one of their cars to the conference. The car has a range of 100 miles and can travel up to 75 miles per hour. According to Adrian Brand, “We need a workforce that is passionate about our product”.
The panelists all provided actionable and practical steps for chambers to capture economic opportunity. If you are interested in any of the above takeaways, speakers, or learning more about the workforce and supply chain opportunities of clean energy and resilience, please reach out to Anne or Alan.
