ST.
LOUIS – A wide-ranging green training initiative to prepare the
region’s union electrical workforce to meet the needs of an
evolving St. Louis economy has been unveiled at the award-winning
Electrical Industry
Training Center.
The
initiative reflects the pro-active stance of union labor as it
prepares its members to master the new skill sets required by
emerging green and alternative energy industries that has the
potential to generate more than 22,000 manufacturing jobs in the
state.
The training center unveiled its curriculum at an open house
for St. Louis area lawmakers and business leaders on May 28, 2009.
“We
are both cultivating opportunity in the new green economy and
training the workforce necessary to build it,” said
Stephen
P. Schoemehl, business
manager for the
International
Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local One.
“We can make St. Louis the center of renewable energy
development in the Midwest.
To do that, we need a highly skilled
workforce.
We already have the essential curriculum in place to
create that workforce and build a brighter future for St. Louis.”
IBEW
Local One partners with
the
St. Louis Chapter,
National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA)
to form the
Electrical
Connection.
Among
the skills already developed within the ranks of IBEW Local One are
the wiring and installation of solar panels, wind turbines and “smart
building” technologies that conserve energy.
The new training
consolidates 70 courses into one green curriculum that includes:
- Photovoltaic
cells;
- Building
automation;
- Energy
efficient installations; and
|
- Fuel cells;
- Lighting
efficiencies;
- Programmable
logic controllers.
|
“As
the nation continues to push the development of electricity from
cleaner energy sources, the installations are becoming more complex,”
said
Dennis Gralike,
director of the Electrical Industry Training Center. “Safety is
a huge concern.
For example, while solar is a low voltage source
when it is placed in arrays, the voltages can reach as high as 600
volts.
It is essential that only skilled electricians install them
in accordance with the
National
Electric Code.”
Located
at 2300 Hampton Ave., the Electrical Industry Training Center is
the Midwest's largest resource for training union electricians and
communication technicians.
It trains more than 1,200 IBEW
apprentices, journeyman electricians and communication technicians
annually.
It is jointly operated by IBEW Local One and St. Louis
Chapter, NECA. For more information, visit
www.stlejatc.org.
Cultivating
Green Industries
According to the
Renewable Energy Policy Project
(www.repp.org),
efforts to rein in Missouri’s carbon emissions have the
potential to generate more than 22,000 manufacturing jobs in wind,
solar, geothermal and biomass industries.
As a result, the
Electrical Connection has been cultivating these types of industries
to create a new manufacturing base, generating jobs for its members.
“For union electricians and electrical contractors, the
potential is more than just building or retrofitting renewable energy
manufacturing facilities,” said
Douglas R. Martin,
executive vice president of the St. Louis Chapter, NECA. “We
have the capability to work with product manufacturers and a
project’s design team to customize our training. We can then
prepare our skilled workforce to assemble and install new
technologies with precision.”
Representatives of the Electrical
Connection have been traveling the U.S. to lure green industry to St.
Louis.
The group also recently co-sponsored the
Wind
Industry Supply Chain Workshop,
the first of its kind in a statewide series.
Organized by
The
Missouri Partnership,
the workshop delved into business-to-business
opportunities in the renewable energy industry.
To learn more about the Electrical
Connection, visit
www.electricalconnection.org.
Cutline:
Left to right, Electrical
Industry Training Center
apprentices Jack
McNatt and Steven
McCray prepare to
test the voltage output on a solar panel as part of the training
center’s new green curriculum.
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