From an article by Cara Spoto in the Stevens Point Journal:
Two years ago, Stevens Point resident Rob Peck decided to make a career change.
“My kids were grown … and I thought I would really like to do something different,” Peck, 50, said. “I wanted to get into something that would be good for the community and society in general.”
So, after years of working in manufacturing and real estate sales, Peck applied to Mid-State Technical College to become a renewable energy specialist and energy-efficiency technician.
Now a design consultant at Northwind Renewable Energy in Stevens Point, which specializes in designing and installing renewable energy systems, Peck helps customers engineer the perfect solar energy system for their home or business.
Hired about a year ago, Peck was one of two MSTC students who interned with Northwind last summer. Josh Stolzenberg, one of Northwind’s owners, said the business plans to take on three new interns this summer. If things work out with the interns, Stolzenberg and his partner, Craig Buttke, plan to hire two of them.
Peck is one of many Wisconsinites looking toward sustainable technologies to shape his next career move. According to Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development Chief Labor Economist Dennis Winters, sustainable industries and technologies have and will continue to play a key role in current and emerging job markets in Wisconsin.
The DWD projects that by the year 2018 “professional, scientific, and technical services” industry will be among the top 10 employers in the state.
“‘Green,’ as it were, actually permeates all industries and occupations,” Winters said.