Image Credit: ChargerHelp!
Green Tech Company Creates New Opportunities for Local Workforce
By Bobbie Green, Communications Specialist, Environmental Defense Fund
Bobbie Green is a Communications Specialist for Environmental Defense Fund, an environmental nonprofit that brings together policymakers and business leaders to solve the toughest environmental issues and find solutions that work. In this guest blog post, Bobbie spotlights ChargerHelp!, a Black-owned clean technology company with a mission to revolutionize access to technology solutions that maintain electric vehicle (EV) charging stations. This green tech company is pushing the envelope for clean energy solutions and creating new workforce development opportunities for local communities of color using a tech-based approach.
Environmental Defense Fund experts have long acknowledged that the future of climate tech centers around bringing bold solutions to the forefront of the climate crisis. This new era of climate innovation will help catalyze companies with a mission to create sustainable solutions as the future of green tech.
One newcomer to the industry is ChargerHelp!, an innovative tech-based company providing on-demand technical support using EMPWR, a data platform designed to provide better insight into the maintenance and repairs of electric vehicle charging stations. The company uses local workforce training to mitigate downtime for stations and on-site solutions to reduce the strain on electric vehicle (EV) drivers and increase brand reliability. ChargerHelp! recognizes that the only way to ensure reliability in the EV charging ecosystem is to require maintenance and repair contracts on all charging infrastructure at the time of installation.
ChargerHelp! co-founders Kameale Terry and Evette Ellis, launched the company in downtown Los Angeles in January 2020 after seeing a need for a sustainable tech-based workforce that can contribute to a green environment and tap into an underutilized market for EV adoption. As the company grows its technology and offerings for EV charging stations, it aims to support more resilient green infrastructure.
Highlighting the untapped potential of communities is a crucial component of the company’s mission. Partnerships with development programs and local workforce initiatives have helped push the company into 11 states across the U.S., with more programs set to roll out in the coming weeks, making this an exciting time for the company.
These green tech opportunities are especially significant in low-income and industrialized communities, where residents experience some of the highest rates of pollution and health effects from harmful emissions. By educating the local workforce through training and development resources, ChargerHelp! combats environmental injustices by removing barriers and providing a source of economic mobility accessible to all communities.
ChargerHelp! demonstrates the benefits of its technology to local talent by using on-site training through its mobile application and web-based platform to facilitate repairs of broken or malfunctioning EV locations. Employees are trained quickly and able to secure a permanent position with benefits and equity within the company in just a few weeks. Employees enjoy flexibility in their careers today and opportunities for advancement in the future. This method for workforce development allows community members to advance their skillsets and become experts in the field.
As this new era of climate innovation moves forward, efficient and equitable infrastructure solutions must be at the heart of the action. Companies like ChargerHelp! are essential to raising these standards and growing the workforce with local talent reflective of the community.
To learn more about ChargerHelp!, check out a new interview with co-founders Kameale Terry and Evette Ellis, now on Degrees.
For more information about Bobbie Green, follow Bobbie on LinkedIn. To learn more about the Environmental Defense Fund, visit www.edf.org/.