When Ohio’s 19 Joint Apprenticeship Training Centers received a two-year grant from the U.S. Dept. of Energy in 2009 to implement a green energy training program, they set big goals for the program. Jan. 12, 2012, marks the official end of the grant, and the Ohio GROWs (Green and Renewable Opportunities for Workers) project has trained nearly double the number of apprentices and journeymen it set out to reach. One thousand of these newly trained workers are already in the field, and the promise of several new wind farm projects in the state indicate that Ohio GROWs will meet its employment target of 1,125.
“There are more and more wind turbine farms going across the landscape in Ohio. We know of at least three, with a total of 200-250 turbines that are on the books for Seneca, Crawford and Hancock counties. Hardin County is home to the Hog Creek I and II Wind Farms,” wrote project director Judy Ennis in the latest newsletter from Ohio GROWs. “Paulding County has the Timber Road II and III Wind Farms and the Blue Creek Wind Farm. Developers are saying that there will be more than 800 wind turbines in the future for northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan. This will mean employment for the highly trained holders of the Wind Turbine/Competent Climbing certificate from the JATC’s of Toledo and Warren.”
Dave Wellington, the Toledo Electrical JATC Director along with Bill Box, a Local 8 Business Agent and Nathan Eaton, an instructor at the Toledo Electrical JATC, recently took a trip to the Blue Creek Wind Farm in Paulding and Van Wert County. Job site superintendent Jerry Sluzewicz, MJ Electric of Iron Mountain, MI, gave them a tour of the project site. The project consists of approximately 156 turbines over 20 miles of farmland. Each turbine reaches a height of around 336 feet tall, not including the blade that extends another 160 feet from the hub of the turbine into the sky.
Sluzewicz reported that the project was on schedule, and it looked as though all of the pre-job projections were going to be met. He also mentioned the pride and professionalism of the IBEW members, especially the Local 8 members, on this project. He appreciated the way these members stepped up to the plate to make this a successful endeavor for an out-of-town contractor using electricians from Ohio to build the farm.
Eaton jumped at the chance to climb one of the towers, where he could admire the results of the training program up close. From pouring the foundation to the underground work to erecting the tower, nacelle and rotor, each trade worked together so every tower looks as though it came straight from the factory, clean and precise. It was obvious that each tower was constructed with pride and precision.
The Blue Creek Wind Farm was made possible through help of the Ohio GROWs grant. “The grant put Ohio workers to work on some of the first industrial size wind turbines in the state,” Eaton wrote about his experience. “These turbines will be producing power that is clean and renewable far into the future.”
Ohio GROWs has capitalized on strong relationships built between the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) and the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA) through the leadership provided by the Ohio Electrical Labor Management Cooperative Committee (OELMCC). In addition to earning NJATC Green Jobs Certification, participants also earned college credits through the University System of Ohio. The program also hosted the state’s first Energy Solutions Summit in September, bringing together energy efficiency and renewable energy industry stakeholders.