In “The Graduate,” the renowned movie from the 1960s, young graduate Benjamin Braddock is told one word by a businessman in the know about what line of business Benjamin should pursue: “Plastics.”

If Benjamin were in the Imperial Valley in the 2010s, a businessman in the know likely would give him this one word of advice: “Solar.”

Yes, solar energy is a huge industry of the future in the Imperial Valley, as are other renewable energy sources such as wind and geothermal. Solar, wind and geothermal resources are more than plentiful in the Imperial Valley, maybe as plentiful as anywhere in this country, a country desperate for alternative energy sources.

More than a thousand people didn’t need much prodding to go to the Mount Signal Solar PV Job Fair at the Barbara Worth Resort & Country Club in Holtville. In an area long plagued by unemployment, they know that solar is an industry starting to provide good-paying jobs in the Valley now and will produce countless such jobs in the future.

Yes, the hundreds of jobs for which they would be hired from this particular job fair, which was staged by the Imperial County Economic Development Corp., would only be for the 18 months or so needed to build one large solar operation, but having experience building a solar plant no doubt would help in getting a job when the next such facility is built. And there is little doubt many such plants are coming to the Imperial Valley.

Helping build a solar plant also could be a point in the favor of those seeking long-term jobs at that or other such solar facilities in the Valley. Various solar operations are in the planning stages and San Diego State University-Imperial Valley campus is starting a solar facility at its Brawley site and will train industry workers there.

So if someone asks you about the business buzzword to remember regarding the Imperial Valley’s future, there is an easy one-word response: “Solar.”

THE ISSUE: Solar job fair

WE SAY: It’s our future.

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