WalletPop Blog

Green shoots: Clean tech is the fastest growing job market

Andrea Chalupa — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:00:00 EST

Jobs in the clean technology industry are growing twice as fast as the national average. So that's where the jobs are. Walletpop spoke with Ron Pernick, co-founder of West Coast-based Clean Edge and the author of The Clean Tech Revolution, to find out what these jobs are, how to land one, and, most importantly, how much they pay.

Here are some highlights from Clean Edge's recent report, Clean Tech Job Trends 2009, which I highly recommend you read if you want to know if this industry is for you. There are lots of resources for clean tech job trainings, education and job search engines, after the jump.

According to the report, jobs vary from accountant -- there's one we've heard before -- to wind turbine technician. From the report, here's a sample of jobs and their salaries:

Hardware Design Engineer, Smart Grid $87,700 Mid-Level; requires Engineering Bachelor's
Welder, Cutter, Solderer, or Brazer, Wind Power; salary: $50,300 Mid-Level; requires: High School/Associate's Degree
Wind Turbine Technician, Wind Power; salary: $52,600 Entry-Level; requires: Bachelor's Degree
Construction Superintendent, Wind Power; salary: $74,000 Senior-Level; requires: Bachelor's Degree
Field Service Engineer, Wind Power; salary: $62,400 Mid-Level; requires: Engineering Bachelor's Degree

But can these jobs be outsourced?

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Green shoots: Clean tech is the fastest growing job market originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nelson George on "Good Hair" and BlackAtlas.com

Andrea Chalupa — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 11:30:00 EST

Filed under: Travel, Celebs & Money

Nelson George, executive producer of Chris Rock's controversial documentary now out in theaters, "Good Hair," talks about how the film exposes the global business and religious resources behind popular black hairstyles. Watch the video interview with George, an esteemed cultural critic, to find out why Beyonce has a religious ceremony in India to thank for her hair extensions.

George is also busy launching BlackAtlas.com, a new site funded by American Airlines that provides tips and personal insight about touring the world, from an African-American perspective. BlackAtlas highlights the hottest destinations in the world, pointing out stores, hangouts, beauty salons (for the good hair) that black tourists should be aware of in planning their trips.

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Nelson George on "Good Hair" and BlackAtlas.com originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Mon, 09 Nov 2009 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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CheapEatery.com: Balanced meals in NYC for $10 or less, wait, what?

Andrea Chalupa — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:00:00 EST

Sure, you can grab a hot dog or slice of pizza in New York for cheap, but a balanced meal for $10 or less? In Manhattan? That's the idea behind the new site CheapEatery.com.

At first it seemed too good to be true. When Daniel Lyu, a former producer for The Food Network, told me about launching CheapEatery as a database ranking and profiling affordable restaurants in Manhattan and Brooklyn, we had to put him to the test. Can you get a balanced meal for $10 or less in the city that boasts some of the world's most expensive restaurants?

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Trucker: Michelle Monaghan's new movie is a must-see

Andrea Chalupa — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: Extracurriculars

The opening scene of the new movie Trucker, about a tough, single female truck driver confronted with motherhood, will grab you. Not because it's a woman having an orgasm, or that the woman is sexy, girl-next-door Michelle Monaghan, but that it looks incredibly authentic.

Throughout the 93-minutes of Trucker, you can watch it on mute and still feel the gritty transition that Monaghan's character is forced to go through. Her acting is just that raw. (Oscar time!)

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Paper Towel Smack Down: Which leading brand gives the best bang for the buck?

Andrea Chalupa — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: Saving Money, Shopping

If you're like me, you like to eat Nutella at your desk, out of the jar and offer your spoon to any busybody co-worker who walks by, looking disgusted.

On one such blissful occasion, I smeared a dollop of Nutella on my desk, to see if the desk wanted some. OK, actually, I was running a consumer experiment testing leading brands of paper towels, investigating which one gives you the easiest clean-up and return on investment. Let's meet our three challengers:

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The Onion: just as divisive as regular news, now with new book

Andrea Chalupa — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: Extracurriculars

Everyone's favorite satirical news source, The Onion, is coming out with a brand new book, Our Front Pages: 21 Years of Greatness, Virtue, And Moral Rectitude From America's Finest News Source, just in time for the holidays.

The book shows you vintage Onion, going back to 1988, to the satirical paper's University of Wisconsin-Madison days, in black and white. With an introduction by NBC's Brian Williams, funny beyond the anchor desk, Our Front Pages has timeless headlines like "Panhandler Strike Enters Third Week," "Secondhand Smoke Causes Secondhand Coolness," and "War! Come On, Let's Have One!"

In Walletpop's Big News Podcast, I talked with editor-in-chief, Joe Randazzo, and web and politics editor, Baratunde Thurston about the political divisions in America today, and stupid people. In our discussion, you'll find out the do's and don'ts to landing a job at The Onion. Happy headline writing, y'all!

The Onion: just as divisive as regular news, now with new book originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Thu, 29 Oct 2009 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The New Recruits: Can capitalism save the world?

Andrea Chalupa — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:15:00 EST

What do you get if the 1960s and a banker on Wall Street had a baby? Social entrepreneurism. Though it has a long history, it's been a buzzword since Muhammad Yunnus and his Grameen Bank won the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize for lifting people out of poverty through microloans.

Social entrepreneurism isn't charity; it's business as usual, tailored to those in high-need, and the subject of an upcoming documentary, The New Recruits: Can Capitalism Save the World?

"There's been this thing called charity, that as long as I can remember was the approach to helping those in need," says Jeremy Newberger, one of the film's directors and producers. Charity, says Newberger, has shown us it can't be the only solution. "There's still poor people, there's still suffering."

Newberger and his partners in Ironbound Films, Seth Kramer and Daniel A. Miller, wanted to understand this growing phenomenon of a market driven Peace Corp, so to speak. So with their video cameras, they shadowed three out of the nine 2009 fellows of the Acumen Fund, a non-profit global venture fund, as they tried to build businesses in some of the world's most volatile regions.

"You're experiencing offices in the developing world," says Newberger, who calls the film "Apprentice meets Slum Dog Millionaire." Playing on this theme, The Office's Rainn Wilson is the narrator, which infuses the film with his dry humor.

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The New Recruits: Can capitalism save the world? originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hulaween: Making NYC a little more like Hawaii

Andrea Chalupa — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 16:00:00 EST

Hawaii and New York have absolutely nothing in common, except for making Bette Midler the Eco-Diva she is today.

This Friday, October 30th, Ms. Midler is throwing her annual Hulaween Ball, a lavish Halloween wonderland in the Waldorf Astoria, with a little hula-flavor--a nod to her Hawaiian roots. It is the most important event of the year for her non-profit, The New York Restoration Project, an organization determined, among many other things, to plant a million trees in New York. It's up to 250,000 trees planted, and counting.

The organization, which raises most of its funding from Hulaween, works hard to ensure that every nature-starved New Yorker lives within walking distance to a "green space." Other greening initiatives include youth education programs, building community gardens and events in low-income neighborhoods.

I spoke with Midler last spring about "rough" New York in the 1970s, when it was dangerous to step foot in Central Park at any hour of the day.

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The Yes Men: fighting to save greedy executives, from themselves

Andrea Chalupa — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: Video, Green

If we can't count on the government to keep us safe from the the Madoffs, coal ash spills that swallow up entire houses, arsenic in our tap water, or E. coli in our hamburger meat, then it's nice to have American D.I.Y.-ness to hold big business accountable.

Meet The Yes Men, two wacky guys who pose as regular corporate executives and say in public the things they wish corporations would. They do this by setting up websites cloned to look like the multinational corporations they want to prank, then wait to get invited to big industry conferences. When the invitations roll in, and they do, it's gloves off.

Their recent acts of hilarity include posing as Exxon Mobil execs and giving a morbid keynote speech on climate change to 300 oilmen at Canada's largest fuel conference. They also stopped by the Wharton School of Business as representatives of the World Trade Organization to tout new exploitation strategies for Africa.

"You learn the difference between right and wrong when you're very young, and somehow most of us forget it when we go out to work. Because we've set up a system where corporations are rewarded for bad behavior as long as they're making a profit," says Mike Bonanno, one half of the key duo of The Yes Men's operation.

Now their exploits have been captured in a movie, "The Yes Men Fix the World," which shows their activist sword-wielding. It is now hitting the road--you can look for a screening near you here.

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Bette does the Bronx and a garden grows

Andrea Chalupa — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 16:00:00 EST

Bette Midler's New York Restoration Project is at it again. The non-profit, which works to revitalize parks and public spaces throughout New York City, built a community garden in one of New York's toughest neighborhoods, in the Bronx.

The garden, which looks like something out of Vanity Fair, opened October 6 and will also host cooking demonstrations, gardener workshops, summer concerts and community movie nights.

Designer and television host Sean Conway, author of the simply fabulous Cultivating Life: 125 Projects for Backyard Living, created the gardens by consulting locals on their needs and wishes. Most of the plots of land will go to school children at neighboring P.S. 73 to learn about gardening.

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It's October! Get your mammogram and shop at Bloomindale's for a good cause

Andrea Chalupa — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 13:00:00 EST

At 43, Marisa Acocella Marchetto finally had life in its place: she was getting married for the first time and her cartoons were in demand by The New Yorker. Suddenly all of her success took a back seat to breast cancer, which she had to fight without health insurance.

Marchetto captured this life-changing battle in her cartoon memoir, Cancer Vixen: A True Story. Her Cancer Vixen foundation pays for women, without insurance, to get mammograms at St. Vincent's Comprehensive Cancer Center.

On Monday evening on New York's Fifth Avenue Marchetto joined actor Dylan McDermott, Estee Lauder spokesmodel Elizabeth Hurley, and Evelyn Lauder of The Estee Lauder Companies and founder/chairman of The Breast Cancer Research Foundation, to raise awareness and funds to fight a cancer that strikes one in eight women.

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Give your health benefits a workout! A simple guide to open enrollment

Andrea Chalupa — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 18:00:00 EST

Just as the fall means investing in a good coat, it also means dealing with open enrollment for your employee health plan. It's a necessary hassle: choosing the benefits and plan you'll be locked into for the next year is as important as doing your taxes. A recent Harvard study found that nearly half of Americans who file for bankruptcy do so because of medical bills. So give your health benefits the same scrutiny you'd give your taxes, and consider this simple guide your "good accountant" for common health-care concerns.

1. Think about all your health needs in the coming year, and those of your parents and/or children. Do you need a regular mammogram, either because of your age or family history? If you're thinking of getting pregnant, do you want a plan that covers in vitro fertilization?

You may not like facing the big questions, but young people in particular tend to be unprepared for disaster and enormous medical bills -- such as my friend who broke his hip in a car accident while working long, exhausting hours on an independent film. It's smart at any age to get short-term disability insurance, so money is still coming in if you can't work.

As Americans are finding they have to stay in the workforce longer, aging parents need all the help they can get. Consider a plan that will help you support your parents' medical needs, letting you take time off from work or get reimbursed for certain coverage assistance.

2. Know your provider. Most major health-care insurers let you search their sites for doctors and dentists without needing a login, which gives some sense of their customer service and lets you see which doctors are in the network -- always the cheaper option, even if you have a relatively flexible PPO. Then search the internet for advice and reviews on the care providers.

3) Flexible spending. That's the golden rule: if your company offers a flexible spending account, as 85 percent of companies with at least 500 employees do, then go for it. FSAs let you use pre-tax dollars to pay for qualifying medical expenses, which can save you up to 20 percent on common expenses including insurance co-payments and deductibles. You choose how much to set aside for the year; the amount is deducted from your paycheck.

Try to spend it all by the end of the year -- you'll forfeit whatever you set aside for your FSA that you don't use. One way to unload that spare FSA account is to visit your drugstore. Prescriptions and many over-the-counter drugs, and first-aid items, are covered. Another option: FSAs cover Christian Science practitioners and acupuncturists too, according to IRS guidelines. Be sure your company abides by those guidelines; some firms impose limitations to avoid the paperwork. Your company, not the IRS, will have the most accurate list of what's covered under your plan.

4) Perks! The average person spends $4,000 for health benefits at a company. That's a lot, but there are breaks that can lighten that load, such as gym-membership discounts (or even home equipment -- but find out for sure before you buy a treadmill).

Many insurers also offer complementary and alternative (CAM) therapies to cover massage, accupuncture, and other holistic methods of relaxation. So once you're done doing your homework on health benefits, you can reward yourself with a massage, recharge, and get back in the jungle.

5) The more you know, the less people can take advantage of you. Don't be afraid to ask your human-resources department all the questions you need to understand this stuff. That's what they're there for. And don't let up until you fully understand it, and they're explaining it in clear, simple terms. When it comes time to fighting any bunk charges or getting reimbursed on an expensive vaccine, you'll be happy you did.

Give your health benefits a workout! A simple guide to open enrollment originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Thu, 08 Oct 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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France's shocking love affair with McDonald's

Andrea Chalupa — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 15:30:00 EST

Filed under: Food

The French are known for their love affairs -- just take the old joke that a marriage in France often involves three people. The country that gave us fine cuisine and couture is involved in a steamy love affair with McDonald's. And things are heating up.

Monday, a communal "quoi!" came with the news that McDonald's will be setting up shop in the Louvre. Yes, the Sun King's former palace, home of the Mona Lisa and one of the greatest cultural institutions of human history, has succumbed to le Big Mac. This wasn't the first time on the issue that people, namely Francophiles and the French themselves, thought civilization was over.

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Barbara Corcoran on not taking 'no' for an answer

Andrea Chalupa — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 14:00:00 EST

Filed under: Wealth

ABC's Shark Tank is the dynamic new reality series by Survivor and Apprentice creator, Mark Burnett. Five super-successes in business dish tough love to nascent entrepreneurs. (Check out Walletpop's exclusive behind-the-scenes coverage here.) Out of those five, one is a woman -- real estate mogul Barbara Corcoran who sold her Corcoran Group for $70 million in 2001.

Initially, mega-producer Burnett chose another woman for the role: a thirty-something buxom blond. Corcoran knew her age was working against her. At Monday's More Magazine's Reinvention Convention in New York, Corcoran, in her sixties, shared the e-mail that helped change his mind and land her the gig instead:

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Barbara Corcoran's 10 lessons for reinventing yourself

Andrea Chalupa — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 13:45:00 EST

Filed under: Wealth

More Magazine's third annual Reinvention Convention took place Monday in New York City featuring a star-packed line-up of women speakers.

New York real estate legend Barbara Corcoran, speaking to a packed house, shared her 10 hard-earned lessons of what it took to go from a real-estate mogul to a fixture on television.

Recounting her salad days working as a waitress in Edgewater, N.Y., Corcoran kept her audience in stitches recounting how she put her busty co-worker to shame by wearing big red ribbons in her pigtails. The story is always an audience favorite, and in fact gave her the title of her bestselling inspirational memoir, "If You Don't Have Big Breasts Put Ribbons on Your Pigtails and Other Lessons I Learned from My Mom."

Corcoran, who sold her brokerage firm for $70 million the Friday before 9/11 -- (the conglomerate who bought it tried for a month to go back on the deal) -- walked away with $66 million in cash. Everyone expected her to sail off happily into the sunset.

Instead, depression swooped in, caused by the isolation of losing a meaningful job.

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Barbara Corcoran's 10 lessons for reinventing yourself originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Tue, 06 Oct 2009 13:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Can Conde Nast cut costs and keep the luster?

Andrea Chalupa — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 14:45:00 EST

Everybody loves a good party. And in the publishing world, Conde Nast is as skilled at throwing memorable fetes as it is in churning out glossy magazines.

When the now defunct Conde Nast Portfolio, where I used to work, first opened over two years ago, bottles of Perrier-Jouet champagne were given to all Portfolio staff along with a rager on Wall Street complete with male model waiters. (Other than the joltingly hot guys floating trays of hors d'oeuvres and free booze, there was also a masseuse in the corner giving out neck and back massages. If it were an earlier decade, the scene would have been hedonistic.)

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Move over Dunkin' D's! There's a Kolache Mama in town

Andrea Chalupa — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 15:30:00 EST

Filed under: Food

Sweet challah rolls stuffed with something sweet or savory? Deeeee-lish! That's the concept behind the popular Czech pastry, the kolache. You may soon get the opportunity to sample one in a Kolache Mama opening soon near you.

The new kolache franchise, with stores that look like a Hello Kitty version of Dunkin' Donuts, is rolling out nationwide, starting with three stores in Manhattan. With a cute name and diverse menu (an entire Veggie Mama menue so vegetarians have plenty of options) and a right price point -- $3.99 for one, 2 for $5 -- there's high hopes for Kolache Mama for a successful launch in this recession.

The yummy rolls of goodness are already popular in states with large Czech populations: Texas, Minnesota, and Oklahoma. If you like bagels and doughnuts and plenty of fillings, then you have a new food obsession.

Kolache Mamas will be popping up in Philadelphia, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington DC, and Chicago over the next four years. If you can't wait that long, stop by New York's Midtown for the first store opening on Sept. 30 for your own bun of fun. (Yes, I said it!)

Move over Dunkin' D's! There's a Kolache Mama in town originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Thu, 24 Sep 2009 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Best Rural Areas to Live and Work

Andrea Chalupa — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 12:30:00 EST

Filed under: Extracurriculars, Real Estate, Wealth, Recession

Finding great rural places to live is easy, but finding great rural places to live and work is hard. That is why more and more people live near big cities -- for jobs. But, if you like rural living, there's no need to compromise.
NeighborhoodScout.com targeted only those small-city areas of the nation with the strongest predicted job growth, and then aimed their patented search algorithms within 20 miles of each to find the best rural areas near these small cities for great living.

Best Rural Areas to Live and Work originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Thu, 24 Sep 2009 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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What's More Dangerous?

Andrea Chalupa — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Insurance

When you're cleaning your house, should you be more scared of your washing machine or your vacuum cleaner? If you had to choose, should you ride with a teen driver or a 90-year-old driver? Insure.com asked Fred Kilbourne, actuary with The Kilbourne Company in San Diego, to help us figure out our everyday risks. Click through our gallery to see what you should be more worried about.

Read the Feature

What's More Dangerous? originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Thu, 24 Sep 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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T.G.I.T.: Would a four day work week work for you?

Andrea Chalupa — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 15:00:00 EST

Who wouldn't want a three day weekend, weekend after weekend?

From cutting carbon emissions to improved quality of life to saving employers money on energy bills, the four day work week sure is tempting. But could you handle cramming your work week into four days? To find out about the challenges and benefits to this growing trend--Utah's state employees are the latest to get on the three-day weekend schedule--Walletpop talked to Professor Michael Fischl at the University of Connecticut School of Law and organizer of an upcoming symposium on the topic, Redefining Work: Exploring the Four-Day Work Week. To hear what he had to say, watch Walletpop's Big News Podcast:

T.G.I.T.: Would a four day work week work for you? originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Tue, 22 Sep 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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