One company’s decision to open a new solar manufacturing plant will help to create Arizona state jobs.

Gov. Jan Brewer recently announced that Tower Automotive plans to build its solar component manufacturing plant in the Phoenix metro area, a move that will create up to 200 new jobs.

“This is a significant win for Arizona in that it advances our competitive position in the global market and further establishes Arizona’s foothold in the solar industry,” Brewer said. “My goal is to land the top solar manufacturers in the world; creating jobs that put Arizonans back to work and help Arizona families get back on their feet.”

Once Tower Automotive locates to Arizona, it will be eligible under the new Renewable Energy Tax Incentive program, which provides refundable tax credits and property tax reductions for manufacturers.

“Tower Automotive is excited to bring our technology and expertise to the Southwestern United States through the establishment of manufacturing operations in the metro Phoenix area,” Bill Pumphrey, President of the Americas for Tower Automotive, said.

“Through the support of our customer, Stirling Energy Systems, and the State of Arizona, both of which made this possible, we are confident that this is the start of exciting growth opportunities for our company, our colleagues and the communities we support,” he continued.

Tower Automotive is one of the largest independent global suppliers of automotive metal structural components and assemblies. The company is building the new plant in an effort to diversify its product line to manufacture parts for Stirling Energy Systems, which will be used to generate grid-quality solar electric power.

“We’re pleased that Tower Automotive, one of our full service supplier partners, will be joining us in Arizona with a state-of-the-art high tech facility to manufacture components for our SunCatcherTM technology,” Steve Cowman, CEO for Stirling Energy Systems, said.

“We commend Governor Brewer and congratulate the State of Arizona for their efforts in securing Tower Automotive’s location to Arizona,” he added.

Tower Automotive currently operates about 40 manufacturing and product development facilities in 13 countries throughout North America, South America, Europe and Asia.

If you’re looking to get into politics, you may want to consider the many Tucson government jobs available.

Tucson’s government industry employed 80,500 workers during September, according to the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is up from 78,200 workers during August, but a 3.2 percent decrease from last year.

Tucson has what’s considered a “weak mayor” model of local government. The six-member City Council has exclusive legislative authority and shares executive authority with the mayor. The mayor is elected by voters apart from the council, while a city manager is appointed to overlook the everyday operations of the city. Bob Walkup currently serves as the mayor of Tucson.

Council members and the mayor are able to serve an unlimited number of four-year terms. Council members are nominated by their wards under a primary, with the person from each party earning the most votes competing for the final seat on the ballot.

Since 1985, mayoral and council candidates have been eligible to receive matching public funds from the city. In order to be eligible, council candidates must receive 200 donations of $10 or more, while mayoral candidates must receive 300 donations of the same amount.

Once those numbers have been met, candidates must then agree to spending limits of 33 cents per registered Tucson voter. In return, they are able to receive matching funds from the city at a 1:1 ratio of public money to private donations.

When it comes to federal politics, Tucson is divided between the 7th and 8th congressional districts of Arizona. The city center is in the 7th District, which has been represented by Democrat Raul Grijalva since 2003, while the areas to the north and east fall in the 8th District, which has been represented by Democrat Gabrielle Giffords since 2007.

When conducting background checks(Click here), knowing if a potential employee has a criminal record is not the only thing businesses are looking for. In many cases an employer needs to know if the applicant has the proper education and other credentials necessary to perform the job in question. According to a recent press release one provider of employee screening is hoping to help businesses keep better track of such information.

Employment Screening Resources (ESR) announced this week that they have updated their Continual License Verification (CLV) service. This part of the company alerts employers such as hospitals when a workers professional license is nearing its expiration date. The program used to send out these notices, however, can only provide employers information on workers that they originally verified the license on. This is because ESR has to have the expiration date on record, which is taken care of during the initial background check.

Employers utilizing this service will be sent a link to a secure web page, when the worker in question’s license is near expiration. From this page the user can then indicate if the employee will be obtaining re-verification or if it is not necessary because that individual no longer works for the company. Without such a system, trying to keep track of an office full of workers’ professional certifications can be difficult.

“For workers that require a professional license, it is no longer sufficient to merely verify the license once at the start of employment,” said ESR’s president Lester S. Rosen in press release. “Employers need solutions that protect them during the entire time the person is employed. For hospitals and other employers that need to ensure that workers maintain their licenses in good standing, this is a unique solution that provides a system to manage and audit the process.”

ESR developed this software originally for hospitals. Due to stringent requirements put on these employers by the Joint Commission on Accreditation, only workers who have undergone primary source verifications can fill positions that require professional licenses or certification.

One city recently voted down an attempt to reduce its pre-employment test for drugs and alcohol.

The Greenwood, Miss., City Council unanimously voted down the idea and directed the city attorney to come up with a tighter version of the policy within the next 30 days, according to an article by The Greenwood Commonwealth.

The city currently conducts pre-employment testing for drugs on all potential employees and has the ability to conduct random testing on all hired employees except clerical workers. Also, any employee involved in a motor vehicle accident while on official business or during work hours is issued a drug test.

The new policy would have eliminated pre-employment drug testing. The city got the idea from the City of Pearl, whose policy only allows random testing of police and fire personnel. Greenwood planned to add Department of Public Works employees to that list and eliminate testing as the result of an accident.

Several City Council members disagreed with the idea, saying the city should strengthen its policy rather than loosen it. Some feel any weakening of policy would result in an influx of people with drug problems applying for city jobs. A looser policy also could result in the city losing money and potential lawsuits.