Funding from federal stimulus to Exxon leads to banner income in 2009 despite recession

The Minneapolis-based nonprofit Center for Energy and Environment (CEE) has marketed residential energy conservation programs under the slogan, “Save Energy, Save Money!” However, according to tax records on file with the Minnesota Attorney General, helping utility customers save energy and money on their monthly bills also pays off for CEE, one of Minnesota’s biggest energy efficiency nonprofit organizations.

“We’ve been remarkably successful beyond our wildest dreams,” Sheldon Strom, CEE president  told the Freedom Foundation of Minnesota (FFM). “We were struggling for quite awhile and all of a sudden every program we were working on turned to gold. We’re trying to enjoy it while we can.”

Total compensation for the five highest paid CEE employees ranged from a high of $275,323 for the president to $175,003 for the director of indoor air quality. By comparison, the governor of the State of Minnesota gets paid $120,303 and the state’s Commerce Commissioner, who oversees some CEE projects, earns $108,400.

CEE officials said compensation amounts are competitive with going rates and not at odds with the nonprofit’s stated mission to make the most efficient use of both natural and economic resources.

“Our highly compensated staff are exceptional,” Strom said. “We didn’t just make up these numbers. We had a big accounting firm do a salary survey. They’re the ones that said these salaries are in the ballpark.”

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If you ask people on the street (outside of Chicago) if they have ever heard of ShoreBank, the answer would likely be “no.” While ShoreBank isn’t a Goldman Sachs, a Bank of America, or a JP Morgan, to the Progressives, this “little” bank is in many ways every bit as big and important as the aforementioned “large banks.”

Why?

One of the core components of President Obama’s fundamental change for America is to create clean energy jobs, also known as “green jobs”.  During his campaign and as recently as his State of the Union Address, President Obama continues to talk about the need “green” jobs. In fact, during his State of the Union 2010 speech, the President stated, “We should put more Americans to work building clean energy facilities –  and give rebates to Americans who make their homes more energy-efficient, which supports clean energy jobs. “

In a speech given by the President in Virginia on Dec. 15, 2009, he said, “The simple act of retrofitting these buildings to make them more energy-efficient — installing new windows and doors, insulation, roofing, sealing leaks, modernizing heating and cooling equipment — is one of the fastest, easiest and cheapest things we can do to put Americans back to work while saving families money and reducing harmful emissions.”

In the  stimulus package last year, President Obama devoted nearly $60 billion of his plan for building a new green-based economy.

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