**This position can be located in Portland or Atlanta**
Ecova–Making a World of Difference
At Ecova, we believe each individual, no matter the role, can make a difference for our clients, the environment and for themselves. Ecova is built on a strong foundation of integrity, community, leadership, persistence and urgency.
Our highest goal is to be the market leading, trusted advisor to organizations driven to maximize results, reduce expenses, manage risk and improve environmental performance. Our focus is to grow results on saving resources for our clients – from utilities to facilities. We apply data-driven insights – from demand to impact – to target inefficiencies and See More, Save More and Sustain More for our clients.
We strive to deliver results and innovation through efforts of our unparalleled people to each and every client with whom we engage. We’re on the look-out for team players to work with us in serving as an integral extension of our clients to measure, analyze and improve resource management. Come join the Ecova family… together we can Make a World of Difference.
Utility Solutions
Supervisor, Incentive Processing
The Supervisor, Energy Programs will be responsible for directing and/or managing all activities associated with the energy management support staff. Responsible for program management support for ecova’s Utility Solutions business unit for several projects or one major program resulting in total annual labor budget(s) of >$500K.
Role Description
• Establishes and Implements performance and service standards.
• Develops and Implements process and/or operational improvements to enhance efficiency and effectiveness of operations.
• Ensures productivity meets or exceeds service and quality standards.
• Oversees all aspects of project(s); sets deadlines, assigns responsibilities, and monitors and summarizes progress of project.
• Leads task execution of project work plans and work breakdown structures.
• Prepares marketing strategies and programs for a product or product line.
• Evaluates product performance to help develop and update company goals and objectives.
• Advises team on any relevant product concerns.
• Develops and maintains favorable relationships with new and existing clients in order to increase revenue.
• Ensures that organizational goods or services consistently meet client needs.
• Responsible for sustaining and renewing client contracts.
• Develops and maintains relationships and favorable contacts with current and potential customers. Will resolve customer issues and problems in a timely manner.
• Develops and gives presentations to assist in program delivery and execution.
• Develops marketing strategies and marketing materials in conjunction with other internal teams to support programs.
• Drafts and delivers client reports and communications on a regular basis.
• Advises internal teams on any relevant product concerns and may recommend changes to current product development procedures based on market research and new trends.
• May evaluate product performance to help develop and update company goals and objectives.
• Facilitate communication between members of the team.
• Monitor procedures and recommend improvements.
• Monitor work schedules and time management, while tracking labor cost.
• Identify and recommend staffing requirements based upon justified need.
• Promote and maintain teamwork and effective communication with other leaders and their teams.
• Additional duties as assigned.
Role Competencies
• Associates degree or equivalent work experience.
• 2 +years Supervisory experience working in a business processing environment.
• Experience working with utility and deregulated invoice processing a plus.
• Familiar with utility billing terms and/or SalesForce preferred.
• Strong computer skills (Working knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite Products)
• Demonstrated strong oral, written and interpersonal communication skills.
• A highly collaborative work style as demonstrated through team interactions.
• Demonstrated excellent time management, planning and organizational skills.
• Ability to handle stressful situations in a calm, composed manner while managing numerous tasks with a focus to detail.
• Problem solver offering practical thinking and approaches when applicable, providing sound analysis and judgment when making decisions and/or recommendations.
• Must be self-directed and able to learn business and new products quickly.
• Aptitude to work independently or as part of a team and to adapt to changing industry demands.
• Excellent problem analysis and problem resolution skills.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills.
• High performance team and a strong team player.
• Commitment to confidentiality and company values.
Ecova Information
Our salaries are competitive and commensurate with experience. We are a performance-based culture and have goal-based incentive programs and generous employee benefits. Our comprehensive benefit package includes medical, dental, vision insurance, life, AD&D, short- and long-term disability insurance. We also offer flexible spending accounts and 401(k) with a generous employer match.
Ecova is an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer. All qualified applicants will be considered without regard to age, race, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation or preference, religion, marital status, citizenship, veteran status, or physical or mental disability.
DCRA / Alaska Department of CommerceOnce the snow melts, people make their way around Newtok on wooden boardwalks set down on the mud. But the melting permafrost no longer provides stable ground for village buildings or the boardwalks, and people complain that it’s been years since there has been money spent on maintenance.
One afternoon in the waning days of winter, the most powerful man in Newtok, Alaska, hopped on a plane and flew 1,000 miles to plead for the survival of his village. Stanley Tom, Newtok’s administrator, had a clear purpose for his trip: find the money to move the village on the shores of the Bering Sea out of the way of an approaching disaster caused by climate change.
Newtok was rapidly losing ground to erosion. The land beneath the village was falling into the river. Tom needed money for bulldozers to begin preparing a new site for the village on higher ground. He needed funds for an airstrip. He came back from his meetings in Juneau, the Alaskan state capital, with expressions of sympathy — but nothing in the way of the cash he desperately needed. “It’s really complicated,” he said. “There are a lot of obstacles.”
Those obstacles — financial, legal, and a supremely frustrating bureaucratic process — had slowed down the move for so long that some in Newtok, which is about 400 miles south of the Bering Strait that separates the U.S. from Russia, feared they would be stuck as the village went down around them, houses swallowed up by the river.
“It’s really alarming,” said Tom, slumped in an armchair a few hours after his return to the village. “I have a hard time sleeping, and I’m getting up early in the morning. I am worried about it every day.”
The uncertainty was tearing the village apart. It also began to turn the village against Tom.
Over the winter, a large group of villagers decided that their administrator was not up to the job. By the time he returned from this particular trip, the dissidents had voted to replace the village council and to sack Tom — a vote that he ignored.
“The way I see it, we need someone who knows how to do the work,” said Katherine Charles, one of Tom’s most vocal critics. “I feel like we are being neglected. We are still standing here and we don’t know when we are going to move. For years now we have been frustrated. I have to ask myself: Why are we even still here?”
It’s been more than a decade since Tom took charge of running Newtok, and leading the village out of climate disaster to higher ground.
The ground beneath Newtok is disappearing. Natural erosion has accelerated due to climate change, with large areas of land lost to the Ninglick River each year. A study by the Army Corps of Engineers [PDF] found the highest point in the village would be below water level by 2017. The proximity of the threat to Newtok means that its villages are likely to be America’s first climate refugees.
Officials in Anchorage say Tom has worked tirelessly to move the village out of the way of a rampaging river. Among the relatively small circle of bureaucrats and lawyers who concern themselves with the problems of small and remote indigenous Alaskan villages, the Newtok administrator has a stellar reputation. He has won leadership awards from Native American groups in the rest of the country.
Tom said he hoped to make a big push this summer, acquiring heavy equipment that locals could use to begin moving some of the existing houses over to the new village site at Mertarvik nine miles to the south.
“It’s really happening right now. The village is sinking and flooding and eroding,” he said. He said he was planning to move his own belongings to the new village site this summer — and that villagers should start doing the same.
But Tom, despite his lobbying missions to Juneau and strong reputation with government officials, has failed to inject federal and state officials with that same sense of urgency.
Melting permafrost, sea-level rise, erosion — these are some of the worst consequences of climate change for Alaska. But none of those elements in Newtok’s slow destruction are recognized as disasters under existing legislation.
That means there is no designated pot of money set aside for those affected communities — unlike cities or towns destroyed by floods or tornadoes.
“We weren’t thinking of climate change when federal disaster relief legislation was passed,” said Robin Bronen, a human rights lawyer in Anchorage who has made a dozen visits to Newtok. “Our legal system is not set up. The institutions that we have created to respond to disasters are not up to the task of responding to climate change.”
In Bronen’s view, Congress needed to rewrite existing disaster legislation to take account of climate change. Communities needed to be able to access those disaster funds — if not to rebuild in place, which is not feasible in Newtok’s case, then to move.
The authorities also had responsibility under the treaty agreements with indigenous Alaskan tribes to guarantee the safety and well-being of indigenous communities, she argued.
“This is completely a human rights issue,” Bronen said. “When you are talking about a people who have done the least to contribute to our climate crisis facing such dramatic consequences as a result of climate change, we have a moral and legal responsibility to respond and provide the funding needed so that these communities are not in danger.”
Until then, however, it was up to Tom to find new ways to prize funds out of an unresponsive bureaucracy. It turned out that he had a knack for it.
Government officials praised Tom for finding other sources of funds, such as development grants, and putting them to use for building the new village site. But it has been a laborious process for the remote village to find its way through the different funding agencies and a maze of competing regulations.
As Tom found out, each agency had its own set of rules. The state government would not build a school for fewer than 10 children. The federal government would not build an airstrip at a village without a post office. But the rules, from Newtok’s vantage point, appeared to have at least one point in common. They seemed to conspire against the village ever getting its move off the ground.
In 2011, Alaska’s government published a timetable for Newtok’s move [PDF], setting out dates for building an emergency center, housing, an airstrip — all items on Tom’s list. Two years later, the plan is already behind schedule and the official who oversaw that original timetable said there was little chance of getting back on track.
Officially, the government of Alaska remains committed to helping Newtok and all the other indigenous Alaskan villages that are threatened by climate change.
Almost all of Alaska’s indigenous villages — more than 180 — are experiencing the effects of climate change, including severe flooding and erosion. Some may be able to hold back rivers and sea, but others will have to move. About half a dozen villages, including Newtok, face extreme risks.
But the cost of relocating just one village — Newtok — could run as high as $130 million, according to an estimate by the Army Corps of Engineers [PDF]. That’s more than $350,000 per villager. Multiply that by half a dozen, or several more times, and the cost of protecting indigenous Alaskan villages from climate change soon soars into the billions.
So far, Newtok has received a total of about $12 million in state funds over the past four years, according to George Owletuck, a consultant hired by Tom to help with the move. Much of that has already gone, to build a barge landing, a few new homes, and an emergency evacuation center — in case the village does not manage to move in time.
Officially, federal and state government agencies have spent some $27 million getting Mertarvik ready, although a considerable share of that figure, some $6 million, did not go directly to the relocation, said Sally Russell Cox, the state official overseeing the move. And there is still no major infrastructure completed at Mertarvik.
Would the government of Alaska commit to picking up the rest of the tab for Newtok and the other villages?
Alaska’s oil revenues have fallen off over the years. In 2012, the state slipped into second place for oil production behind North Dakota. Treadwell admitted the state government would not cover the entire cost of fortifying or moving all of the villages threatened by climate change.
“On the question of is there money to help them with one check? That is something there clearly is not,” he said.
Treadwell suggested some of the at-risk villages could raise funds by setting themselves up as hubs for oil companies hoping to drill in Arctic waters.
However, a number of oil companies have put their Arctic drilling plans on hold for 2013 and 2014. Treadwell admitted there was as yet no comprehensive climate change plan for Newtok and other villages. “I think it’s going to be piece by piece with each community and many different pots of money,” he said.
In the case of Newtok, Owletuck, the consultant, had big ideas for financing the move: growing fruit and vegetables hydroponically in greenhouses, or testing the possibilities of producing biofuels from algae.
He let it be known the village may even have found a mysterious benefactor. Owletuck said he’d had an approach from private individuals, whom he declined to name, wanting to donate $22 million to the move.
None of those propositions have materialized, however. And after more than a decade of uncertainty about the future under climate change, the basic infrastructure of Newtok is coming apart.
Snow covers up a lot of Newtok’s flaws: the open sewage pits, the broken boardwalk over mudflats, some of the abandoned snowmobile wrecks.
Newtok has for years been considered a “distressed village,” with average income of $16,000, well below the rest of the state. Fewer than half of adults in the village have paid work. But even within those dismal measures, conditions have sharply deteriorated in the years since the village has been planning to move.
Aside from the clinic and the school, most buildings are in a state of advanced dilapidation. The floor in the community hall sags like an old mattress. The community laundry is out of order.
In the cramped offices of the traditional council, where Tom works, the furniture dates from the 1970s or 1980s, mid-brown vinyl chairs where the casing has split open, revealing the dirty foam inside. It’s not unheard of to find families of 10 or 12 children living in houses of less than 800 square feet — and none of those homes have flush toilets or running water.
Early mornings find the men of the household trudging out of their homes with five-gallon buckets of waste, which get dumped at various spots on the edges of the village, including a small stream.
The diesel-powered generator was nearing the end of its life span. The water treatment plant was shut down last October after people began getting sick. Tom said there was contamination from leaking jet fuel at the airport.
For now, villagers are drawing water from the school, which had a separate system. But the school principal said he would have to cut that off in May to preserve the system for the schoolchildren.
Tom said there was nothing he could do. Government agencies would not fund improvements at the current village site, because of the plan to move. “There is no money to improve our community,” he said. “We are suspended from federal and state agencies and there is no way of improving our lives over here. The agencies do not want to work on both villages at once.”
By last October, frustration with the stalled move and conditions in the village exploded. Villagers accused their own council of failing to hold regular elections, and raised a petition to throw out the leaders and replace Tom.
Some accused him of presiding over a dictatorship in the village. Others speculated that he and the paid consultant, Owletuck, were plotting to rob the relocation funds.
One of the dissidents, a relative newcomer to the village, posted ferocious criticism of Tom on Facebook calling for rebellion.
The dissidents organized elections, voted out the old council, and installed their own leaders. Tom ignored the result. “Let them cry all they want,” he said. “I don’t care. They are not going to help my community. I am way ahead of these guys.”
The upheavals in Newtok are sadly familiar to those who have worked with indigenous Alaskan villages confronting climate change. “I don’t think you would find one community that says they are happy with the pace that’s gone on,” said Patricia Cochran, director of the Alaska Native Science Commission.
“To be honest with you, I think the state and the feds have done a terrible job, not only in assessing the conditions that communities are living within but in responding to them,” she said. “Because these communities are listed as threatened and may potentially be relocated, they are not able to get any funds now for infrastructure that is being damaged right now.”
That leaves communities stuck in a limbo that can carry for years or even decades.
That’s what has become of Newtok. The effects are devastating, said Charles. Beyond all her anger she admitted was an all-enveloping fear. “Sometimes I get scared. I’m scared for my own family. How will I take care of them if the relocation doesn’t start right away?”
She had been waiting for years to see the beginnings of any new settlement in rural Alaska rising up on the rocky hill of Mertarvik: the airport, the barge landing, the school, the houses. None of it was there yet, and Charles said she was coming close to despair.
“It’s been going on for I don’t know how long, and I am beginning to lose hope.”
One California food company has a novel plan for dealing with food waste and cutting down the power bill: Feed it to bacteria. The Kroger Co. plans to chuck all food gone past its sell-by date into an industrial silo, where microbes will break it down to release methane. That methane will in turn be burned to generate electricity.
Kroger’s new food-to-energy plant is designed to make the most of the vast amount of food that spoils before it can be sold to customers, while reducing the company’s electricity bills. Sludge left over from the new energy plant will be used as agricultural compost. The L.A. Times describes the operation, which was built in a Compton, Calif., distribution center that serves hundreds of Ralphs and Food 4 Less stores:
Several chest-high trash bins containing a feast of limp waffles, wilting flowers, bruised mangoes and plastic-wrapped steak sat in an airy space laced with piping. Stores send food unable to be donated or sold to the facility, where it is dumped into a massive grinder — cardboard and plastic packaging included.
After being pulverized, the mass is sent to a pulping machine, which filters out inorganic materials such as glass and metal and mixes in hot wastewater from a nearby dairy creamery to create a sludgy substance.
Mike Vriens, Ralphs vice president of industrial engineering, describes the goop as a “juicy milkshake” of trash.
From there, the mulch is piped into a 250,000-gallon staging tank before being steadily fed into a 2-million-gallon silo. The contraption essentially functions as a multi-story stomach.
Inside, devoid of oxygen, bacteria munch away on the liquid refuse, naturally converting it into methane gas. The gas, which floats to the top of the tank, is siphoned out to power three on-site turbine engines.
The amount of food that we waste is enough to cause indigestion. With this system in place, the anaerobic digestion of some of the rotting waste will happen in a controlled facility, instead of moldering in a landfill somewhere, where released gases will warm up the globe even more.
Ecova–Making a World of Difference
At Ecova, we believe each individual, no matter the role, can make a difference for our clients, the environment and for themselves. Ecova is built on a strong foundation of integrity, community, leadership, persistence and urgency.
Our highest goal is to be the market leading, trusted advisor to organizations driven to maximize results, reduce expenses, manage risk and improve environmental performance. Our focus is to grow results on saving resources for our clients – from utilities to facilities. We apply data-driven insights – from demand to impact – to target inefficiencies and See More, Save More and Sustain More for our clients.
We strive to deliver results and innovation through efforts of our unparalleled people to each and every client with whom we engage. We’re on the look-out for team players to work with us in serving as an integral extension of our clients to measure, analyze and improve resource management. Come join the Ecova family… together we can Make a World of Difference.
Sales Operations
Project Manager
In collaboration with utility leadership and key internal and external resources, stakeholders and business partners, this position will manage new utility program implementations as projects and lead cross-functional teams in support of the implementation. This position is responsible for overall project initiation, planning, and execution, controlling, and closing of projects in alignment with program strategies, commitments and goals.
Role Description
• Manage the definition of project objectives, success criteria, scope, resources and deliverables using a standard set of tools and processes supported by Ecova’s process management office to ensure consistency across programs. This includes pre-launch, launch and operational activities – from contract development to launch to monthly operational reportingDevelop project teams, which may include internal and external resources and business partners, coordinate and integrate project activities across operational and functional lines
• Plan, schedule and track project budgets, timelines and milestones.
• Define and manage risks, contingencies and mitigation strategies.
• Identify business stakeholders and effectively communicate project status and activities – both verbal and written.
• Complete project evaluations and results based on identified success criteria and/or project objectives. Validate completed projects meet stated requirements and that business users are satisfied with results.
• Utilize industry-established project management techniques to deliver initiatives on time and on budget.
• In addition to project management, this position writes contract scopes of work, coordinates budget and savings analysis efforts, participates directly in contract negotiation with clients.
• This role also creates process and training documentation needed for program launches, and mentors other Ecova personnel who may contribute to launch efforts
• Acts as consultant to proposal team on launch issues including launch timing, staffing and support services roles.
• Write contract scopes of work; this involves working closely with pricing analysts and Ecova’s corporate counsel to ensure that all components of the contract are consistent and aligned.
Role Competencies
• BS/MS in Business Administration, Project Management, Information Systems; or equivalent combination of education and experience
• PMP certification preferred.
• Knowledge of or the ability to learn the essentials of energy efficiency, utility demand side management and conservation programs
• Minimum 3-5 years experience managing large-scale, cross-functional teams and projects.
• Web product planning and management experience preferred.
• Experience developing, implementing, and maintaining processes preferred.
• Experience in energy efficiency, renewable energy, or related field preferred.
• Ability to build collaborative work relationships with a diverse group of individual contributors, both internal and external, and motivate teams and stakeholders to achieve desired results.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills (writing samples required).
• Critical thinking and problem solving skills applied in a diverse and matrixed organization.
• Strong organizational and planning skills with attention to detail.
• Self-directed with the ability to anticipate challenges within cross-functional, complex organizational structures.
• Exceptional customer-facing skills.
• High level of knowledge about Ecova business systems and processes preferred.Proficient in the use of Microsoft Project or other project management toolset, MS Office products, Visio.
Ecova Information
Our salaries are competitive and commensurate with experience. We are a performance-based culture and have goal-based incentive programs and generous employee benefits. Our comprehensive benefit package includes medical, dental, vision insurance, life, AD&D, short- and long-term disability insurance. We also offer flexible spending accounts and 401(k) with a generous employer match.
Ecova is an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer. All qualified applicants will be considered without regard to age, race, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation or preference, religion, marital status, citizenship, veteran status, or physical or mental disability.
In this video for the Nature Conservancy, rapper Macklemore explains how municipal green space in his home city of Seattle influenced his career: He and his friends didn’t want to kick it at their parents’ houses, so they went and freestyled in parks. (Side note: Do people really still say “kick it,” or is Macklemore even older than I am?) We knew, of course, that Macklemore was into creative reuse, but who knew he had so many ideas about urban infrastructure? Read more…
For everyone who was hoping the Obama administration’s proposed new rules for natural gas drilling on public lands would make a difference, the just-released new draft amounts to a big “frack you.”
Federal rules governing fracking on public lands are being updated, ostensibly to help manage the boom that’s polluting America’s groundwater and shaking free vast volumes of cheap natural gas. Environmentalists were disappointed a year ago when the Department of Interior released a fracker-friendly draft of the new rules. But they submitted reams of comments and had hoped that the proposed regulations would be tightened up in this draft.
Instead, the opposite happened.
Bowing to industry pressure and disregarding concerns about environmental and health impacts, the department actually watered down the draft regulations during the past year. The latest proposal gives frackers virtual carte blanche to wreck the environment, and they don’t even need to tell America which chemicals they’re wrecking it with.
Under the draft proposal, frackers won’t be required to tell the public what chemicals they are injecting into their land. They won’t need to demonstrate that all of their wells are safe — just one well in each field will do. Toxic wastewater will be allowed to sit in open pits. And frackers will be allowed to work near homes, schools and on environmentally sensitive land.
“These rules protect industry, not people,” said Frances Beinecke, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council. “They are riddled with gaping holes that endanger clean, safe drinking water supplies for millions of Americans nationwide.” She added that “this draft is a blueprint for business-as-usual industrialization of our landscapes.”
You would imagine that the oil and gas industry would be showering Obama with love and extolling his greatness right now, given that they are getting their way on virtually everything. But you would be wrong. For them, anything resembling regulation is too much regulation. More from the Washington Post:
Meanwhile, the American Petroleum Institute criticized the department for not simply leaving regulation to state agencies. “While changes to the proposed rule attempt to better acknowledge the state role, BLM has yet to answer the question why BLM is moving forward with these requirements in the first place,” said Erik Milito, API’s director of upstream operations.
In a conference call, Interior Secretary Sally Jewell, who as a petroleum engineer used hydraulic fracturing while drilling oil and gas wells in the 1970s, called the proposals “common-sense updates” of regulations that “date back to the Sony Walkman and Atari video game.” She called fracking “an essential tool” but said it should not be left to a “patchwork” of state regulations.
For a detailed look at the latest proposal and for a dissection of its environmental shortcomings, head over to Matthew McFeeley’s NRDC blog. The draft rule isn’t final yet — there is a 30-day public comment period. Let’s see if the regulators listen to the people this time.
For everyone who was hoping the Obama administration’s proposed new rules for natural gas drilling on public lands would make a difference, the just-released new draft amounts to a big “frack you.”
Federal rules governing fracking on public lands are being updated, ostensibly to help manage the boom that’s polluting America’s groundwater and shaking free vast volumes of cheap natural gas. Environmentalists were disappointed a year ago when the Department of Interior released a fracker-friendly draft of the new rules. But they submitted reams of comments and had hoped that the proposed regulations would be tightened up in this draft.
Instead, the opposite happened.
Bowing to industry pressure and disregarding concerns about environmental and health impacts, the department actually watered down the draft regulations during the past year. The latest proposal gives frackers virtual carte blanche to wreck the environment, and they don’t even need to tell America which chemicals they’re wrecking it with.
Under the draft proposal, frackers won’t be required to tell the public what chemicals they are injecting into their land. They won’t need to demonstrate that all of their wells are safe — just one well in each field will do. Toxic wastewater will be allowed to sit in open pits. And frackers will be allowed to work near homes, schools and on environmentally sensitive land.
“These rules protect industry, not people,” said Frances Beinecke, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council. “They are riddled with gaping holes that endanger clean, safe drinking water supplies for millions of Americans nationwide.” She added that “this draft is a blueprint for business-as-usual industrialization of our landscapes.”
You would imagine that the oil and gas industry would be showering Obama with love and extolling his greatness right now, given that they are getting their way on virtually everything. But you would be wrong. For them, anything resembling regulation is too much regulation. More from the Washington Post:
Meanwhile, the American Petroleum Institute criticized the department for not simply leaving regulation to state agencies. “While changes to the proposed rule attempt to better acknowledge the state role, BLM has yet to answer the question why BLM is moving forward with these requirements in the first place,” said Erik Milito, API’s director of upstream operations.
In a conference call, Interior Secretary Sally Jewell, who as a petroleum engineer used hydraulic fracturing while drilling oil and gas wells in the 1970s, called the proposals “common-sense updates” of regulations that “date back to the Sony Walkman and Atari video game.” She called fracking “an essential tool” but said it should not be left to a “patchwork” of state regulations.
For a detailed look at the latest proposal and for a dissection of its environmental shortcomings, head over to Matthew McFeeley’s NRDC blog. The draft rule isn’t final yet — there is a 30-day public comment period. Let’s see if the regulators listen to the people this time.
Create product plan for assigned products, including life cycle management, competitive analysis, industry tracking and pricing strategy.
Effectively communicate plans to Sales and senior management .
Develop an overall promotional programs for assigned products.
Participate in the training of new hires and sales, including resellers.
Work closely with the Strategic Market group to increase mid-volume placements in key strategic accounts .
Provide management with product feedback and development issues for product updates, modifications, and future product development .
Minimum of a Bachelor degree, business or marketing preferred, MBA a plus .
Sales experience is a plus .
Strong organization skills and the ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously .
Interact on a day-to-day basis with customers and the sales force to develop business relationships.
Ability to build relationships with, and work across, all departments within the organization to ensure tasks are completed correctly in a timely manner .
Ability to meet/exceed deadlines, prioritize tasks to meet business objectives .
Good interpersonal and communication skills required.
Ability to work independently and in team situation.
Salary: from 75,000 USD a year and more.
We will provide the work placement/work permit (Visa) with our Corporate clients.
If you are interested by a high-level position in Product/Marketing area, please, send us a resume thru email.
“Hello, world? Hey, John Kerry here. Just wanted to apologize for all those decades of America’s non-leadership on that crazy global warming thing. But now we’ve decided to start making some nice sounds about the issue. Hope you can hear me making them over the din of the Arctic ice breaking up behind me.”
OK, so the Secretary of State didn’t actually say that. But the leader of the department that will rule on the climate-changing Keystone XL pipeline proposal has begun apologizing for the nation’s lack of progress in tackling climate change.
“I regret that my own country — and President Obama knows this and is committed to changing it — needs to do more and we are committed to doing more,” Kerry said Tuesday, referring to climate change, in a press conference with Sweden’s prime minister.
Kerry is in Sweden to attend meetings in the country’s northernmost city of Kiruna of the Arctic Council, an intergovernmental forum for governments that have a stake in the fate of the fast-melting region. As the Arctic melts, new shipping routes and oil fields are opening up, and the international community is going to need to coordinate and temper the scramble to cash in on these new opportunities.
“We come here to Kiruna with a great understanding of the challenge to the Arctic as the ice melts, as the ecosystem is challenged, the fisheries, and the possibilities of increased commercial traffic as a result of the lack of ice raises a whole set of other issues that we need to face up to,” Kerry said during the press conference. “So it’s not just an environmental issue and it’s not just an economic issue. It is a security issue, a fundamental security issue that affects life as we know it on the planet itself, and it demands urgent attention from all of us.”
The Obama administration on Friday released the National Strategy for the Arctic Region [PDF]. The strategy pledges to “enable our vessels and aircraft to operate … through, under, and over the airspace and waters of the Arctic, support lawful commerce … and intelligently evolve our Arctic infrastructure and capabilities.” All done sustainably and in harmony with other nations, of course. But the 11-page document is not so much a detailed strategy document as it is a vague wish-list for the future of the region, and no federal funds have been committed to turn the strategy’s goals into reality.
That said, the attention that the U.S. is affording the Arctic Council is politically significant. From the BBC:
Mr. Kerry, who held one of the first US Senate hearings on climate change as early as 1988 with then-Senator Al Gore, is hoping to put the spotlight on the issue of climate change again, after efforts to make concrete progress faltered during President Barack Obama’s first term.
Despite a multitude of international crises, Mr. Kerry insisted on attending the meeting of the once-obscure council.
Climate change has countries as far away as India also paying attention to the Arctic — and seeking observer status in the council.
What the Arctic most needs, of course, is a fast and deep cut in the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. Actions leading to that — like, say, rejecting the Keystone XL Pipeline — will carry more weight than press-conference words.
What do you do when the federal government won’t let you plant a sustainable, super-useful crop on your own land? Well, if you’re Ryan Loflin, you do it anyway.
The 40-year-old farmer from Springfield, Colo., has been scheming for months. “I believe this is really going to revitalize and strengthen farm communities,” Loflin told the Denver Post in April. Now he’s leased 60 acres of his father’s alfalfa farm to plant and tend the hundreds of hemp starters he’s already been grooming.
Hemp, for those who aren’t familiar, is a variety of cannabis that — sorry kids! — won’t get you high. Strong, nutritious, and super sustainable to grow, hemp is used for everything from rope to cereal. It requires few herbicides, and has even been called carbon negative by some boosters. And while it’s illegal to grow it in the U.S., it’s not illegal to sell. Right now imported hemp — the only legal kind — accounts for about $500 million in annual U.S. sales, according to the Hemp Industries Association.
So what if it were homegrown, Loflin-style?
Loflin’s not completely on his own here. Colorado legalized hemp, along with recreational marijuana, last November. Last week, Colorado passed a bill that would register hemp farmers with the state and create a committee that would work with farmers and the Department of Agriculture to (hopefully) keep plants in the fields and farmers out of jail.
“This is monumental for our industry,” Bruce Perlowin, chief executive of Hemp Inc., told the Denver Post. “It will unlock a clean industrial revolution that will be good for the economy, good for jobs, and good for the environment.”
In April, Kentucky passed a measure to legalize industrial hemp production, over the objections of local law enforcement who said it would turn the state’s residents into a bunch of stoners. Kentucky farmers are a bit more cagey about plowing ahead Loflin-style, though, and are instead lobbying the feds to just make this stuff legal already.
Because that dank shit sustainable fiber is still straight-up Schedule I illegal, hemp farmers don’t qualify for federal crop insurance and other government benefits afforded to farmers of legal crops. And fear of reprisal is keeping many farmers and researchers away, even in states that say it’s OK.
“The law is clear on this matter,” a board member at Colorado State University, a top farming research school, wrote in a letter to U.S. Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.), “and we do not want to do anything that would unintentionally result in personal criminal liability for CSU employees or that would disqualify the institution from obtaining future government funding.”
Without movement in Washington, this fibrous future rests with folks like Loflin, who are willing to risk jail time for this plant. But even if Loflin lands behind bars, he’ll always be able to say he was the first. As he told Denver’s Westword, “It’s my crazy competitive nature.”
Confidential/Toronto, ON, Canada
