Jobs in the green sector are growing across New York and across the nation, according to a recent survey report by Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2) released on Aug. 28.

“We saw three major projects there in New York that created, combined, more than 600 jobs,” says Robert Keefe, executive director of E2, a Washington, D.C.–based nonpartisan group of business leaders, investors, and others who promote environmental policies.

One of those projects is San Mateo, Calif.–based Solar City’s announced $200 million acquisition of Silevo, a California–based solar-panel technology and manufacturing company. As part of the acquisition, Solar City plans to build a 1 gigawatt (GW) annual production capacity manufacturing facility near Buffalo that will add several hundred jobs to start and could eventually lead to 1,000 jobs, Keefe says.

While that is great news, Keefe says, “The real story in New York is the story to come.” He’s referring to New York’s Reforming the Energy Vision (REV) initiative.

REV is designed to help the state meet its goal of reducing its carbon emissions by 50 percent by 2030, he says. The three main ways to do that are to make current power plants more efficient, replace energy that currently comes from fossil fuel with energy from renewable sources, and to make buildings more efficient. All of those efforts, Keefe says, will create jobs and stimulate economic growth.

“REV is a great thing,” he says. “It’s the type of policy we think is going to lead to dramatic clean-energy job growth.”

E2 has been tracking green jobs since 2011, and it says that in the second quarter of 2014, more than 12,500 clean energy and transportation jobs were announced in 29 states.

“That’s double what it was the previous quarter,” Keefe notes.

E2’s “Clean Energy Works for Us: Second Quarter 2014 Report” noted a number of projects besides the Solar City project in Buffalo that helped contribute to the increase nationally. Omaha, Neb.–based Tenaska, an independent energy provider, recently closed a deal to build a solar-energy center in California, a project that is creating 800 new construction jobs. The Boston Housing Authority’s project to install public-housing water and energy retrofits across the city helped create 600 new jobs there.

The solar sector saw the most job growth during the quarter, with 22 total projects announced and five solar companies announcing hiring in the residential sector in New York as well as Arizona, California, and Massachusetts.

Other areas of growth include electric vehicles and wind farms, particularly offshore wind projects in Oregon, New Jersey, and Virginia, Keefe says.

“These aren’t the jobs of the future anymore,” he says. “These are the jobs of today and they are growing.”

Keefe says the green industry is growing and thriving for three main reasons. First, he contends, Americans want clean energy. Second, American innovation, in the form of products like electric cars, is driving growth. Finally, good policy, such as New York’s REV initiative, leads to good business.

E2 (www.e2.org) says its mission is to create a platform for business leaders to promote environmentally sustainable economic growth. The group’s members have been involved in financing, founding, or developing more than 1,700 companies that have created more than 570,000 jobs.

Contact the Business Journal at news@cnybj.com

CICERO — Green Planet Grocery, which currently operates stores in Camillus and Oswego, plans to open a third location in Cicero in early October.

The Cicero store is part of an expansion plan that could include up to 10 locations in the next three to five years, says Joe Scripa, a minority owner in the grocery store.

Scripa spoke with the Business Journal News Network at the Camillus store on Sept. 8.

The business describes itself as a “local, independent health-food store” that features all natural foods, organic produce, supplements, and bulk foods, according to its website.

Brent Lewis is the company’s majority owner. Scripa declined to disclose each man’s percentage of ownership.

Scripa manages the Cicero store’s construction, marketing, and merchandising, he says.

Besides his ownership role with Green Planet Grocery, Scripa also serves as an associate broker and commercial specialist for the Fayetteville–based Scripa Group.

Lewis, the company’s founder, has an “absolute vision” of helping people to shop healthier and eat healthier, says Scripa.

“So, Brent’s vision is to grow the company [and expand] into small communities … and make it easy for people to get healthy choices,” he adds.

Green Planet Grocery is leasing an 8,000-square-foot space at 6195 Route 31 in Cicero, says Scripa. The store will operate in the Lakeshore Heights Plaza.

Scripa Group serves as the plaza’s property manager for New York City–based E&E Associates, LLC.

Green Planet Grocery is using a loan from Pathfinder Bank to finance the opening of the Cicero location, but Scripa declined to disclose the loan amount.

Green Planet is spending “several hundred thousand dollars” to prepare the site for business as a grocery store, he adds.

Benton’s Refrigeration, Inc., a Cicero contractor, is helping prepare the space for business, says Scripa.

The location will employ a mix of 15 full-time and part-time employees, he adds. Scripa declined to disclose any revenue information for Green Planet Grocery.

Agreement with Café Kubal
Green Planet has also reached an agreement with Café Kubal, a Syracuse–based coffee roaster, to develop and supply a café at the Cicero location.

“We will own and operate the café, but [Café] Kubal is our supplier, trainer,” says Scripa.

The partnership with owner Matt Godard will also extend to future locations of Green Planet Grocery, he adds.

In addition, local food suppliers for Green Planet Grocery include Regional Access, an Ithaca–based distributor of natural and organic products from the Finger Lakes; Madison County–based Side Hill Farmers, which provides the store’s meat products; and DeWitt–based Giovanni Food Company.

Its national suppliers include distributors such as Naperville, Ill.–based KeHE Distributors, LLC and Providence, R.I.–based United Natural Foods, Inc., according to Scripa.

The partnership
Scripa met Lewis a few years after Lewis had launched his first store, the Mustard Seed Natural Food Market in Oswego, which has since taken the name Green Planet Grocery.

Scripa provided Lewis assistance as he was scouting properties for a possible store location.

Lewis later opened a store in Camillus in 2010.

The Camillus location operates in a 4,000-square-foot space at 3514 W. Genesee St. in the same plaza that includes Metro Mattress and retailer Casual Male XL.

Since their initial meeting, Scripa has been encouraging Lewis to open a location in Cicero, he says.

“Finally, about two years ago, I said if you [Lewis] don’t do it, I want you to teach me how to do it,” as Scripa recalled it.

So, Lewis agreed to pursue the idea with Scripa.

Beyond Cicero, the company has yet to select any additional locations for future Green Planet Grocery stores, says Scripa.

As someone who works in the real-estate business, Scripa says the firm is looking for locations that are “close to a neighborhood, close to the population for people to be able to shop and get that healthy item as opposed to running to a convenience store [and] getting something that’s not as healthy,” he says.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com