Staff Spotlight: Sage Berglund, Workforce Training Manager
Sage Berglund always knew she wanted her work to make an impact.
A native of Seward, Minneapolis, Berglund attended the University of Washington, Seattle, where she received her bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. She lived in Bellingham, Washington, for three years afterward, working as a project manager at an aerospace company.
“I was like, ‘Oh, no, I actually don't care about airplanes, thank you,’" Berglund laughed.
Berglund was always passionate about the environment and found herself gravitating toward the field when considering her next career move.
“When I was moving back to Minneapolis from Washington, I decided I wanted to do something in sustainable and green housing,” Berglund said. “I attended a virtual conference that [CEE’s Director of Residential and Community Energy] Becky Olson was speaking at, and I was like, ‘This seems cool — this seems really cool.’ But they weren't hiring at the time. It was still pandemic freeze, so someone at CEE actually referred me to the CERTs Clean Energy Job Board, and that's where I found my first job as an auditor for Tri-County Action Program (Tri-CAP) up in St. Cloud.”
As an auditor for Tri-CAP, Berglund conducted energy audits for income-qualified utility customers. Though she loved the work, the commute from Minneapolis to St. Cloud each day was tiring. Seeking a job closer to home, Berglund checked back with CEE and was hired to fill an open senior auditor position.
“My favorite part of doing audits was talking to homeowners, helping them understand more about energy efficiency and get excited about it,” Berglund said. “I think my audits may have taken a little bit longer than others', because I just loved that part of it!”
After about six months as a senior auditor at CEE, the position of building science trainer opened. According to Berglund, reading over the job description illuminated a natural next step.
"I was really excited that educating people about energy efficiency and equipping them to make a difference in the field could be my whole job."
Now workforce training manager, Berglund manages the two training programs that CEE implements: Home Energy Career Training, funded by Xcel Energy, and Green Construction Career Training, funded by Ramsey County. In addition to designing curriculums and supervising instructors, Berglund also takes on teaching duties herself.
“I would say that every person who goes through a workforce development program and then lands a really good job afterward — that’s what I'm proudest of,” Berglund said. "More than the paycheck, it’s what those jobs represent to people. Someone who used to be in the food service industry and now has a job that has more regular hours gets to be at home with their kids at night and on the weekends. That just makes me feel really good, that people are able to improve their lives because of these programs.”