The St.Louis Business Journal reports that Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn announced a major plan to support green job creation.

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn unveiled a plan for job creation and retention Monday that relies on tax credits for car manufacturers, startup capital for small businesses, job training programs and investment in green jobs.

A cornerstone of Quinn’s jobs plan is the $31 billion Illinois Jobs Now — the state’s first major capital construction program in more than a decade — which the governor signed into law this summer. Quinn said he expects the construction program, which also includes hundreds of millions of dollars for energy efficiency, weatherization and greening for Illinois schools, to create and support 439,000 jobs over six years. The plan uses money from the state lottery, casinos and sales taxes to finance bonds for billions of dollars in construction projects, including $78.9 million to renovate a science building and construct a new science laboratory building at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville.

The Quinn administration said it helped put together more than 40 business investment packages in 2009, which are expected to create about 2,700 jobs, retain 3,500 jobs and leverage nearly $500 million in private investment.

Via GetSolar’s blog (republished with permission):

Judging from recent announcements, the Department of Veterans Affairs is aiming for a solar-powered future.

On November 20, the VA announced plans to install a solar photovoltaic (PV) system at a facility of the West Texas VA Health Care System. And today, via the Phoenix Business Journal, we learned that VA hospitals in Arizona, California and Nevada will also host solar PV systems over the coming year.

The West Texas system will be installed in the employee parking lot atop 230-foot long car ports, and is expected to produce over 240,000 kWh annually — about 7 percent of the facility’s annual electricity usage. The other solar projects, to be installed at VA facilities in Phoenix and Tucson — as well as at unnamed facilities in California and Nevada — will together amount to 1.7 megawatts of installed solar capacity. That’s enough oomph to power about 3,600 homes. What’s more, the projects are expected to result in the creation of 60 jobs in the three states.

REC Solar, a solar integrator based in San Luis Obispo, CA, was chosen to do the installation. (You can learn more about REC Solar on their GetSolar profile.)

Welcome! Over the coming months, this blog will expand and grow in step with our fledgling organization. We aim to coordinate the donation, design and installation of solar energy systems for U.S. war veterans and their families. Why?

Veterans have served and given selflessly.

Each day, our men and women in uniform make tremendous sacrifices in the service of their country. We want to offer meaningful thanks. As a group of energy professionals, this may be the best way we know how.

Monthly bills.

In a sluggish economy, many veterans return home to face daunting financial obligations. A well designed solar energy system can save a family hundreds of dollars annually, and tens of thousands of dollars over the course of the system’s lifetime.

Jobs for the future.

As part of our efforts, we’re aiming to integrate with jobs training programs to help veterans gain practical exposure to professions related to renewable energy and greenbuilding.

That’s all for now. Stay tuned for more updates.