Latest news, weather and high school sports for Albany and Southwest Georgia

ALBANY, GA -- In our Facebook Story of the Day, you voted for us to find out if there are any green jobs available locally.

While there are not many eco-friendly jobs available, per say, according to the Albany-Dougherty Economic Development Commission, it is a goal to bring more to our area.

The E.D.C. says with the abundance of natural resources in Southwest Georgia, such as water and green space, more green jobs may not be far in the future.

“It’s natural we’ll transition at some point to a lot of green initiatives,” says Barbara Rivera Holmes, Director of Marketing and Existing Industries at the E.D.C.

She says existing companies in Albany are already utilizing green initiative programs.

“Miller Coors for example has a very robust green initiative program; Proctor and Gamble does as well. Pippin Pecans, they have an entire solar power operation. So you can see that our existing industries are taking this seriously and making great strides,” says Holmes.

The Georgia Department of Labor says they predict growth in new green jobs and development of green jobs in current industries.

In their Georgia Workforce 2016 presentation about an analysis on long-term employment projections, the GDOL says they predict a growth of green jobs in fields such as Computer Software Engineers, Industrial Engineers and Chemists, for example, as a result of a demand in the green economy.

It also says “Green Enhanced Occupations” like environmental protection will have openings such as environmental engineers and conservation scientists that will increase in the future.