Ex-factory workers ideal workforce for wind industry

Sometimes, the green news I read is sort of depressing, like a GreenBiz piece I saw today about a study which figures Americans waste about $130 billion (yes, that’s “billion”) a year in energy. Other times, the green news is more hopeful, such as an item in the New York Times‘ Green Inc. blog that examines the rapid rise in training for wind turbine technicians at regional technical colleges.

It’s good to see community colleges devising technical education for a growth industry like wind. And the U.S. wind industry just happens to have a great resource at its disposal besides the howling winds of the Great Plains–all those ex-factory workers from layoffs and closures of U.S. manufacturing plants. Workers skilled in using and programming machinery, interpreting work instructions, bills of material, routings, or in the intricacies of plant maintenance seem to be an ideal work force for wind turbine installation and repair jobs.

Already, according to a recent article in USA Today, layed off factory workers are being drawn to the wind industry. It seems a natural fit. And not only is there maintenance of installed turbines, but the initial construction itself. Utility-grade wind turbines are so large that they need to be assembled on site. Turbine installation is in essence a final assembly operation. What better type of people to be involved in that sort of work than people with a background as materials managers or line supervisors in complex product manufacturing. They know how to coordinate the arrival of materials from an upstream supply chain according to an assembly schedule that makes the best use of labor and machine capacity, while ensuring the right quality procedures are carried out. Sure, they’ll need specialized training–but their background is ideal.

Does anyone know of any state or federal programs that retrain manufacturing workers for green jobs, and help foot the bill for tuition? If so, please share that info. That sort of program would be even more good news for layed off factory workers.