Verde and the Native American Youth & Family Center/NAYA have created a new social enterprise, Verde Energy to hire, train and employ low-income Latinos and Native Americans in energy efficiency, providing weatherization labor and weatherization services for single family homes, later expanding to multi-family housing and small commercial buildings.

Verde Energy will offer labor and services to contractors, governments, affordable housing providers, CAP agencies, other nonprofit groups, and private property owners.  It commences operations July 2010 with a 2-person crew, offering quality weatherization labor services to for-profit contractors.  Verde Energy adds a new 2-person crew every 6 months, and will later offer services as a Construction Contractors Board-licensed weatherization subcontractor and as a Building Performance Institute-certified weatherization prime contractor.

Please contact Colleen Neel, Verde Energy Program Manager, to learn more about Verde Energy's services.

Verde Energy's development and startup has been funded by grants from:Audubon Society/Toyota Motor Corporation's Together Green Initiative, NW Health Foundation's Kaiser Permanente Community Fund, Spirit Mountain Community Fund, the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, the Penney Family Fund, US Department of Labor's Pathways Out of Poverty grant program, the Portland Economic Opportunity Initiative, by resources from NAYA, and by earned income from Verde Landscape.

Click here to learn more about Verde Energy's awarded funding and funding in progress.

Verde Energy is a signatory with the OR & SE Idaho District Council of Laborers, Laborers International Union of North America.  Click here to read the Verde Energy-LiUNA Agreement.