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Interested in Voluteering?
The Retired Engineer Technical Assistance Foundation (RETAF) is a non-profit Michigan foundation that has been awarded a contract by the State to assist small businesses in their pollution prevention efforts. This is accomplished by means of a program that has been going on since 1994, the Retired Engineer Technical Assistance Program (RETAP). While completely non-regulatory in nature, the program is administered for the State by the Environmental Science and Services Division of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.
Here is how it works: Retired Michigan engineers and scientists are contacted and recruited to work in the program, and this notice is one of the ways in which contacts are initiated. After a screening process that involves submission of an application and an in-depth interview, successful applicants are asked to sign an agreement to work for the program as independent contractors. They become RETAP “assessors,” being employees of neither RETAF nor the State of Michigan. After training, assessors are contacted periodically to become members of a team to visit small businesses in the state, at no cost to the business, to tour the facilities in a fairly detailed and comprehensive manner and prepare a report with recommendations on pollution prevention, waste reduction and energy conservation. Assessments are performed in teams of two or more assessors, depending on the size of the business. A separate effort publicizes the program to businesses throughout the state, and encourages them to request assessments. Emphasis is placed on the completely confidential and non-regulatory aspects of the program. As independent contractors, assessors are free to accept or reject any offer to conduct an assessment – or even to spend the winter in Florida, as many of our present assessors do. And no retiree does this work for the money, which is nominal and includes a modest hourly wage plus travel and per diem expenses, following state guidelines. But the satisfaction of putting to practical use 30 to 40 years’ experience by helping businesses reduce waste and save money is great. There are at present about 45 active assessors, and RETAF would like to increase that number, to fill gaps in skills and locations in the state in order to fulfill the needs of the state. We particularly need assessors in Northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula, but welcome qualified interested applicants from anywhere in Michigan. If you are interested, please complete and submit the form below in order to download a copy of our application.
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