ZANESVILLE -- Zane State College President Paul Brown took a phone call from a mother Thursday who wanted to know if her sons, two high school sophomores, would be able to attend classes in the Advanced Science and Technology building.
They should be able to, as the new addition to Zane State has an anticipated completion date of two years from now.
Brown often finds himself fielding inquiries about the college's new green energy education direction from not only parents and students of all ages, but business owners, too.
"They want to know about the future of the whole energy sector," Brown said.
He and U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, led a roundtable with educators and business leaders Thursday to discuss how they can work together to prepare a work force for green energy jobs.
The roundtable was a follow-up meeting to the Ohio College and University Presidents' Conference conducted in April in Washington, D.C. The conference was hosted by Sherrod Brown and attended by Paul Brown. Paul Brown said while the presidents' conference focused on education issues in general, like making college more affordable, the roundtable narrowed the focus in on educating a green energy work force.
"We'll do whatever it takes to grow," Paul Brown said. "I work with these people all the time. I connect people, so Mel Kurtz's energy company can grow. I set up people with the direction and connections they need."
Kurtz, president of quasar energy group of Zanesville, was one of about a dozen business leaders who attended to express his individual concerns about the future of the energy field.
Kurtz said there are plenty of job opportunities in the green energy field, but one big problem.
"I can hire people to do the job; I can't hire people to train them to do the job," Kurtz said. "There are lots of jobs, lots of career opportunities, but the bar needs raised. We need to challenge these kids to raise the bar. We've got to train them so they can contribute."
Paul Brown said the addition of the advanced science and technology building is a huge step in beginning to train a green energy work force. The 40,000-square-foot building that will accommodate 500 students at once and will accommodate classes and student services for programs in electrical/electronics engineering technology, information technology and allied health.
Officials announced earlier this month that a 50-megawatt solar farm soon will be located next to The Wilds. It is expected to bring between 600 and 700 jobs.
Brown doesn't know how many of those jobs will go to Zane State students, but he said students will be trained for those jobs after he meets with the two international firms -- Isofoton and Prius Energy -- to see what skills students will need so that can be implemented into the classes offered at the science and technology center.
Paul Brown said he understands that Isofoton will employ 80 and Prius Energy will hire at least 160 to start.
"I've had people ask me what those people will do for jobs when all the solar panels are built," Paul Brown said. "They'll be plenty of work. I think we'll be manufacturing solar panels that will go all over the country, and continue to make components for solar panels, and those will be made right here in southeast Ohio."
Energy auditors, whose job it will be to check the efficiency of energy systems, and jobs in the geothermal field, are a few jobs Zane State students will be trained to do.
"These are jobs for our students and they're not just jobs, they're well-paying jobs, and that's the kind of industry we want to encourage to come here," Paul Brown said. "I think it's the first of many companies that will come into the area."
In June, Zane State College was awarded a $3 million job training grant from the U.S. Department of Labor. Paul Brown said the college is now receiving solar panels, wind turbines, virtual welders and other equipment to use in the classrooms.
The grant money also will allow Zane State to partner with organizations like the Cambridge-Guernsey County Community Improvement Corp., Guernsey County Department of Job and Family Services, Guernsey Muskingum Electric Cooperative, the Muskingum County Opportunity Center, the Ohio Mid-Eastern Government Association, Ohio Farm Bureau Federation-Energy Services and Society of Petroleum Engineers-Ohio Petroleum section to provide the training.
Educators seemed to have the same concern in common -- getting students to become interested in green manufacturing jobs when it seems the state and nation, they said, has turned away from manufacturing.
Paul Brown said students should be exposed to manufacturing companies as early as the eighth grade because most people, especially today, haven't even been in a manufacturing company.
"I do think the new generation is interested in the issue. Everybody here has a piece of the problem and everybody here has a piece of the solution," said Jean Scott, president of Marietta College. "I do think it's a big problem that requires big solutions."
leemoore@nncogannett.com; (740) 450-6758 |
