LAS VEGAS -- Evergreen Recycling is based in Las Vegas. The company collects and sorts trash from casinos and construction sites. They save everything they can, from drywall to carpet and metal.
Management at Evergreen says they were able to hire about 60 people last year with federal money and hope President Barack Obama will help them hire more this year.
The daily operation at Evergreen involves mountains of trash loaded on to a conveyer belt. Employees sift through anything that can be reused. It's a dirty job, but Bobby Ware is happy to do it.
"From going homeless to going back to getting paid. You take for granted a lot of what you have, like buying toothpaste and stuff like that," he said.
Ware was homeless until he found out about a program called Workforce Connections. Evergreen says federal stimulus money allowed the company to hire Ware through the program.
"I looked everywhere for four months and couldn't get a job. Finally, the government helped me out and got my foot in the door here," he said.
Evergreen says last year it was able to create and retain about 60 new employees like Ware with federal funds.
"They usually pay or subsidize their training for up to about 120 days and then they become full-time employees of Evergreen Recycling. So it's a great deal for everyone involved," said Len Christopher with Evergreen.
So when it comes to creating more green jobs, the company says President Obama is right on track.
"The net impact is positive from an environmental standpoint and from an economic impact. These are jobs are permanent because there are always materials coming out the door of commercial properties and there will always be a need for people to collect, sort and ship them to market," said Rob Dorinson with Evergreen.
Last week, the Department of Labor announced Nevada was awarded a $6 million grant aimed at creating green jobs. The state says it has not received the money yet, but hope to train and employ about 6,000 people.
