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Spring is the time of year when high school students are gearing up to make decisions about the future, weighing their options for education, careers and personal growth. Ecotech Institute, the first and only college entirely focused on renewable energy and sustainability, recently hosted more than 200 high school visitors and invites all guidance and career counselors, educators, high school students and families to come take a specialized tour. During the visit, participants can see the brand new LEED-certified campus, step foot into state-of-the-art labs, and deepen their knowledge about careers in the renewable energy sector.

“We are thrilled when young adults come to discover more about the promising future of green careers and the comprehensive education that Ecotech offers,” said Kolby Chase, Ecotech Institute’s director of admissions. “Young folks who want to help sustain our planet and are looking to walk the talk really enjoy learning about areas such as wind, solar and energy efficiency.”

Ecotech’s curriculum addresses both job-specific technical training and soft skills (e.g. communication and work ethic) through comprehensive coursework and lab time. The campus has seven computer labs, nine clean energy labs and 11 lecture classrooms, including labs that focus on electricity, electronics, solar, wind and safety, as well as one outdoor solar residence lab. All labs offer progressive equipment to facilitate practical learning of basic and advanced electronics, the fundamentals and applications of wind and solar power generation and safety skills.  Electricity, electronics, power, solar and hydraulics labs contain Lab-Volt® systems.

A campus tour of Ecotech can be as formal or informal as necessary, depending on a group’s needs. To set up a visit of any size, call Kolby Chase at 877-326-5576.

Ecotech Institute will have its first graduating class in June 2012. Ecotech Institute, which is accredited by the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools, offers highly practical degree programs and one certificate program that provide graduates with skills valued by today’s alternative renewable energy employers.

To learn more about Ecotech Institute, visit us online at www.ecotechinstitute.com/or call 877-326-5576.  The next round of classes begins in April and applications are being accepted now. Financial assistance is available to those who qualify.

Rich Preece, TurboTax Consumer Tax Advocate, recently released a new video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5r1jfMax-wU) offering tax-filing tips for tax procrastinators easily and accurately file their tax return before the deadline but also to ensure they get the biggest possible refund on their taxes. 

With April 18^th just a few weeks away, it’s time for all those tax procrastinators who haven’t filed to start gathering together their tax documents.  Just because you have waited until the last minute to file doesn’t mean that you have to leave money on the table. Up till the 11^th hour, taxpayers can take steps to be sure to maximize their refund.

Go online where you can prepare your tax return:

• File your tax return electronically.
• Have your tax return deposited directly.
• If you can’t make the April 18th deadline, file for an extension. 

This year’s ranking Top 10 Tax Procrastinating Cities, compiled for 10 years by Intuit Inc. (Nasdaq: INTU), the maker of TurboTaxâ tax software products, shows no changes in the top four cities that are among the last to file federal tax returns. Chicago, New York and Austin, Texas trail Houston in the rankings. San Antonio nudged its way into the top tier for the first time since 2008, giving the Lone Star State three of the first five spots. The TurboTax Blog contains an interactive map of this year’s top procrastinators.

People in these cities aren’t alone in their tendency to wait till the last minute.  TurboTax estimates 27 percent of taxpayers wait until the last two weeks of tax season to file their taxes. This year, there’s even more good news for tax procrastinators, an extra three days to file, with the federal tax deadline moving from April 15 to April 18.

The full list of this year’s late-filing cities, with last year’s ranking in parenthesis, is as follows:

1.     Houston – (No. 1): Houston, we have a problem!  Locals landed in the top spot in five of the last 10 years.   

2.     Chicago – (No. 2): Windy City residents are unable to move from No. 2 for the second year running, possibly due to food comas induced by all the deep dish pizza-eating.

3.     New York – (No. 3): For the third year running in the No. 3 spot, New Yorkers in the City that Never Sleeps take a nap until tax time.

4.     Austin, Texas – (No. 4): Busy Austinites, so burned out from festival-hopping, put off their tax duties – landing in the top five again.

5.     San Antonio – (No. NA): It seems one of the biggest military centers in the U.S. needs more soldierly discipline this time around, popping into the top 10 for the first time since 2008!

6.     San Francisco – (No. 5): Known as innovators for all things tech, San Franciscans are doing their taxes only a bit quicker, moving down one spot from No. 5 despite their connected reputations. 

7.     Seattle – (No. 6): It looks like all that rain is washing out more than mail routes for 7th place Washingtonians. Despite their commitment to java hot spots, filing taxes online before the tax deadline clearly isn’t a top priority.

8.     San Diego – (No. 7): When you’re wearing sunglasses 24/7, it’s hard to even see your taxes, let alone file them. San Diegans file just a bit faster due to peer pressure this year with TurboTax headquarters right down the street.

9.     Los Angeles – (No. 8): Starving actors hanging out in this town are too busy looking for some nosh. It’s no wonder they dread filing their taxes!

10.  Dallas – (No. 9): They say cowboys ride alone, but Texans managed to lasso in four cities on this list -- including No. 10, Dallas.

Dropping off the top 10 list this year: Las Vegas

The list is determined by the number of tax returns electronically filed via the TurboTax Online service between April 14 - 17, 2010.

To view the video interview with Rich Preece from TurboTax please visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5r1jfMax-wU. 

Rich Preece is Consumer Tax Advocate at TurboTax, the nation’s leading tax software.  Rich Preece provides consumer tips and advice to help Americans prepare and file their own taxes easily and accurately. Preece has contributed to local and national print and online publications, including PC Magazine and USA Today as well as local and national radio and TV broadcast segments such as Fox Business.