A Time for Transformation

I've mentioned "green collar" jobs before, but it's worth bringing up again. The idea of an emerging green collar industry is more than just a few startup companies hoping to have an impact on the environment. It truly is a complete transformation from many traditional industry standards.

In order for the green collar industry to thrive, business leaders need more and more qualified workers to fill the jobs that are available today. Workers, even those who have spent decades in more traditional manufacturing jobs, are showing their desire to get hands-on, advanced training in emerging technologies like advanced, renewable energies.

A great example of an organization making huge strides to get this next generation of workers proper training is Hocking College in Southeast Ohio. Hocking College has just created a state-of-the-art Energy Institute where students have a choice of two associate degree programs in advanced energy. One program track focuses on fuel cells and alternative energy, such as solar and wind power, with students trained to construct, install, troubleshoot and test multiple types of alternative energy equipment. The other program concentrates on training technicians for alternative fuel and hybrid vehicles, including ones that use fuel cells in their electrical systems.

The 12,000-square-foot Energy Institute is being built across from the Logan-Hocking Industrial Park, about two miles from a key highway linking southeast Ohio to the center of the state. The hope is that an advanced energy training program nearby will draw alternative energy companies to the industrial park.

This program has already caught the attention of advanced energy companies. NexTech Materials Ltd., a Lewis Center-based developer and maker of components for fuel cells and sensors for fuel processing systems, has already hired eight graduates of Hocking College's advanced energy program.

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• Published under Energy, Ohio Business Climate Improvement