OnForce Solar, Inc. (www.onforcesolar.com), New York City’s largest solar energy design, installation and finance firm, today announced that it has partnered with the Consortium for Worker Education (CWE - http://www.cwe.org/), a private, non-profit agency that provides industry specific training and employment services to thousands of New Yorkers, to develop a new on-the-job training initiative. Funded through a grant from the JP Morgan Chase Foundation, OnForce Solar’s “CWE On-the-Job Trainee Program” will serve unemployed and disadvantaged Bronx residents graduating from CWE’s USDOL- funded Workforce Training Center, teaching these individuals the specialized skills they need to enter the solar energy field.

“Joint workforce development and business initiatives like this one – particularly those that are hands-on – can be invaluable for employing disconnected or displaced workers and giving them the skill set they need to succeed in today’s challenging economic climate,” says CWE’s Director of Business Relations Mike Frey.

From Training to Employment

During the eight-week training period, participants will join an OnForce Solar project team out in the field to actively learn the proper safety procedures and technical skills required to install solar energy systems. Trainees who successfully complete the training program will be offered full-time solar panel installation positions at OnForce Solar, complete with benefits.

“Partnering with the CWE to create real opportunities for men and women who would not have otherwise had them has been extremely gratifying,” says OnForce Solar’s President David Sandbank, who just this August spoke before Governor Cuomo, other policymakers and industry peers at a “Blue Room Solar Event” supporting solar development at the New York State Capitol building in Albany.

Looking Ahead

OnForce Solar has committed to two phases of the CWE program, training a minimum of 10 potential new workers. As for the future of the program, which is off to a successful start, Sandbank notes, “The green energy sector is growing rapidly and there will be an ongoing need for skilled workers to keep up with the demand. We envision not only continuing this program, but also expanding upon it in the years to come.”

About OnForce Solar, Inc.

Headquartered in the South Bronx, OnForce Solar, Inc. has offices in Fort Lee, New Jersey, Stamford, Connecticut, Framingham, Massachusetts and satellite operations in Maryland. The company provides high quality, efficient solar energy systems to businesses and homeowners in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Maryland, as well as project feasibility studies, development and financing services nationally. OnForce Solar’s CEO Charles Feit received a “2012 Top Entrepreneurs” award from Crain’s New York Business (http://www.crainsnewyork.com/gallery/20120527/FEATURES/525009999/5) and the firm was named the fifth fastest growing small business in the New York City area, and 42nd in the country, in 2011 by Inc. magazine in its “Top 500” issue. To learn more about the company, visit www.onforcesolar.com or connect with them on LinkedIn or Facebook.