Delta Regional Authority

 
   Springfield Business Journal

 

   May 12, 2009
 
While stimulus money may provide funding for high-tech internships, demand for next-generation jobs will extend well beyond the summer months.

 

To that end, Ozarks Technical Community College presented "How to train a green work force" on May 1 at the Ozarks New Energy Conference at Missouri State University.

 

OTC Center for Workforce Development Executive Director Dawn Busick noted that the federal government estimates nearly 4 million jobs in energy efficiency and renewable energy will be available in 10 years. She added that the federal stimulus program has more than $36 billion available for energy efficiency programs.

 

The key, according to OTC Chief Administrative Officer Cindy Stephens, is realizing that "green" is not a separate industry.

"That's one of the reasons OTC hasn't created a separate degree program that is green," she said. "Instead, we've been greening the curriculum - the automotive program is green, the culinary arts program is green. We feel like the best way to implement green initiatives is to make them an overlay of existing technical programs."

 

Among the efforts OTC is making through its continuing education program is its new alternative energy class. The five-night noncredit class, on Tuesday and Thursday nights June 30 to July 14, introduces alternative energies and how they can be implemented in a variety of jobs and industries.

 

"Not all of a worker's job will be spent doing green work, but they're still a green worker," Stephens added. "The key is to make sure our workers have the information they need to make informed recommendations about green possibilities."

 

The ONE Conference, in its second year, covered a variety of environmental and business issues, from creating and marketing green products to finding local energy and food sources to the consequences of urban sprawl. About 350 people attended the conference at MSU's Plaster Student Union, up from the 300 that attended last year's event in downtown Springfield.