By RUSTY DENNEN

Dan Smolen suggests that many of today's up-and-coming executives might want to forgo the usual gray or blue power suit for a green one.

Smolen, an executive recruiter and business consultant who lives in Stafford County, says a budding global "green" economy--with more companies focusing on sustainability and corporate social responsibility--demands it.

"There's lots of discussion out there about green jobs, but absolutely nothing to speak to executives" who are running the companies or coming up the ranks, says Smolen, 49, a Connecticut native who moved to the Fredericksburg area in 1997.

Smolen has a self-published book coming out this spring, titled, "Tailoring the Green Suit: Empowering Yourself for an Executive Career in the New Green Economy," (AuthorHouse, $20).

He calls it a career development book for green-business professionals.

A graduate of Ithaca College in New York, Smolen worked for 12 years in direct marketing and executive recruiting. Along the way, he he immersed himself in local politics, public policy and the environment.

Three years ago, he changed direction. He had just stepped down as chairman of the Stafford County Democratic Committee.

"I thought at the time I had to make some changes" in his career focus, "to pivot into the green business arena that can touch any facet of the business world, but most obviously energy conservation, sustainability, corporate social responsibility."

And his ah-ha moment: While there's been lots of discussion about green jobs, "I saw that there was absolutely nothing out there to speak to executives" about how to prepare for--and excel--in a new business model, he said.

"I wrote the book for those people the idea behind it, to tailor yourself to take advantage of green business opportunities as they come."

President Obama's $787 billion federal stimulus package, for example, provides billions for green energy, energy savings improvements and sustainability projects.

Smolen says that money, enabled by the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009, is flowing to states and localities.

The George Washington Regional Commission, for example, recently announced it had received a $1 million grant from the state through the stimulus fund for energy-conservation projects here that will help nearly 200 homeowners and create jobs for local contractors.