One Year After the Signing of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Namasté Solar CEO Blake Jones Again Visits White House
Namasté Solar CEO Blake Jones was invited once again to visit the White House one year after the signing of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The economic stimulus package led to initiatives and job creation in green industries.
Boulder, CO (PRWEB) February 18, 2010
Namasté Solar Co-Founder and CEO Blake Jones was invited by White House staff to join President Barack Obama in Washington, DC, on February 17, 2010 to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). In February 2009, Jones was invited to introduce the President at the signing of the Recovery Act at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science and the entire Namasté Solar staff was featured on stage at the event.
One year later, President Obama again welcomed Jones to the White House to celebrate the progress made since the bill’s signing. According to the first Annual Report to the President on Progress, the Recovery Act is responsible for more than 2 million jobs in 2009, and for “building a new foundation” that includes investment in a smarter electric grid, green industries, and renewable energy. Jones was on stage during the president’s address on 17 February 2010, and Obama referred to Namasté Solar in his speech.
President Obama closed his remarks with:
"And Blake at Namasté Solar – it’s based in Boulder, Colorado. One year ago, Blake gave us a tour of one of his company's solar installations, on top of a museum in Denver, right before I signed the Recovery Act into law. And at the time, Blake was pretty sure that the recession would force him to lay off about half of his staff. One year later, because of the clean energy investments in the Recovery Act, he has instead added about a dozen new workers, and expects to hire about a dozen more by year's end. His company continues to install solar panels all over Colorado, from the Governor's Mansion to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. …"
"…for those skeptics who refuse to believe the Recovery Act has done any good, who continue to insist that the bill didn’t work, I’d ask you to take that up with Blake and his employees. (source: www. whitehouse. gov)"
Instead of financial hardship, Namasté Solar has experienced both business success and community recognition. In 2009 alone, the company received 14 awards including placing 56th on the Inc. 500 list of fastest-growing companies, being named by Entrepreneur Magazine in a list of “100 Brilliant Companies,” and winning the Best Places to Work award by the Denver Business Journal.
“The Recovery Act has had a positive impact on small businesses like ours in the United States,” said Jones, “The focus on jobs in clean energy is crucial because it will undoubtedly be one of the most important and fastest growing industries in the global market of the 21st century. Not only will they take us one step closer to being an energy-independent nation, they will help create a healthier natural environment.”
The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) estimated that as a direct result of the stimulus bill, U. S. solar companies are likely to create nearly 140,000 new green jobs in the first two years. Namasté Solar plans to continue its growth, with the goal of increasing its workforce by up to 40% over the same two-year period.
About Namasté Solar
Namasté Solar propagates the responsible use of solar energy, pioneers conscientious business practices, and creates holistic wealth for the company and the community. As the leading solar company in Colorado with more in-state installations than any other company, Namasté Solar has installed more than 950 PV systems totaling over 6 MW since 2005. Its unique values-based business model includes employee ownership, democratic decision-making, community collaboration, an innovative solar grant program, zero-waste initiatives, educational programming, and holistic profit measurement.
###
