Some "Green" greenbacks for Peabody

The City of Peabody just received almost $500,000 in blockgrant money for use in creating jobs that reduce energy use or promote green technologies. This is money from the Federal stimulus plan and distributed by the state.

The Salem News: 3 communities get greenbacks for 'green' jobs

I have not heard anything about such a program here in Peabody but think that this is a great move forward! The future is going to be more reliant on renewable energy resources and getting a foot-in-the-door by promoting these new ideas, experiments and business ventures here in the City of Peabody is a big step in the right direction!

Now if only the City Council will get off their collective duffs and begin to tackle the hard job of re-thinking the way we all want Peabody to be like in the next 25 years... think rezoning, planning, infrastructure, etc., then maybe we can become a center for innovation and creativity that will allow us to lead the region into the next decades and beyond.

The Salem News Reports on $1M Grant for Jobs

The Salem News has, yet again, missed an opportunity to highlight good news in Peabody. Maybe they should be called The Salem BAD News???

The article (link here) lists unemployment figures from September 2007 and 2008. And while it is not great to see how many folks have lost their jobs, it is somewhat encouraging to see that Peabody has one of the smallest increases in job loss in the North Shore, and it is MUCH BETTER than the State average.

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Peabody's unemployment rate, while still too high, grew only 0.7% making it the second lowest in the region and lower than the State average or 0.9%

Maybe this isn't GREAT NEWS for someone who has just lost their job, but it is at least a little encouraging for the rest of us.