100K Partners Program

100K Jobs Challenge

According to a recent survey by the Kauffman Foundation, 79% of Americans believe that entrepreneurs are critically important to job creation, ranking higher than big business, scientists and government. This impression is backed by the facts – in fact, micro firms (those with one to four employees) account for a disproportionately large percentage of new jobs in any given year – about 20 percent of the total, on average.

The cost per green collar job created by graduates from the Cleantech Open to-date is extremely low, a result of the organization's efficient entrepreneurial roots and the leverage of large numbers of volunteers. The average cost per job is $4,000 to $6,000. The majority of these jobs are in micro firms, and a growing number are in utility scale renewable energy projects, exactly the kinds of projects most likely to drive valuable green collar jobs.

The Cleantech Open is actively working to catalyze thousands of green collar jobs across the nation by connecting inventors with entrepreneurs, by training and mentoring all teams who reach the Business Competition's semifinals, and by working to help our contestants and alumni connect with potential funding sources and customers.

Our goal is to work with our alumni and partners to create 100,000 high quality new green jobs by the end of 2015.
The 100K Jobs Challenge will generate jobs:

• Directly through the Open's support of its contestants and alumni and the viable businesses they build
• Indirectly through the supply chain that provides components to Cleantech Open alumni and delivers/installs their technologies
• Indirectly through 100K Partners.

100K Partners and Workforce Development

The City of San Jose is the first partner to accept this challenge. San Jose's Major Chuck Reed announced on March 19, 2009 that San Jose will be responsible for 25,000 new jobs.

100K Partners will provide extensive cleantech business and workforce development training to both individuals and companies, and will have access to the Cleantech Open's training materials including audio and video training, and the Cleantech Open Curriculum.
Partners will be certified through ‘Train the Trainer' training covering the key areas of the Cleantech Open Curriculum. Certified 100K trainers will subsequently provide training on an ‘as needed' basis to participants who can opt to participate in modules covering:

• Technology
• Technical Assessment & Viability
• Executive Team
• Business (Legal, Financial, Marketing)
• Fundraising
• Certifications
• Grants
• Public Policy
• Press & Public Relations

The best trainees of 100K Partner training programs will be encouraged to enter the Cleantech Open.