New Mexico - Wind farm operators learn wind energy trade

Tracy Rascoe cannot turn out wind farm operators fast enough. Rascoe, the director of the wind energy training center at Mesalands Community College in Tucumcari, is a popular guy these days with folks in the wind industry.

When he visits an industry trade show, he is swarmed by the people responsible for hiring. They need what he has: people trained to staff the growing number of wind farms popping up across the nation.

"They can't get enough qualified people," Rascoe said.

In a down job market, Rascoe's field represents a bright spot -- so-called "green-collar jobs," where a push for efficiency, conservation and renewable energy is creating a little economic boom around New Mexico.

Officials from industry, state schools and the nonprofit sector gathered in Santa Fe last month to discuss how to prepare New Mexico workers for the new jobs they say are likely in this fast-growing sector of the state's economy. With both state and federal money likely to be spent on things like renewable energy and building efficiency, along with state and federal tax incentives, green tech is a growth industry.

"There is going to be a green wave of investment that flows to states and communities," said John Fogarty, director of New Energy Economy, a non-profit that was one of the organizers of the Santa Fe conference.

A lot of what is needed for green collar jobs is not terribly different from traditional construction work, said John Paulson, one of the owners of 310 Solar, an Albuquerque company that installs solar systems for homes and business.

Installation of solar water heating systems, for example, is not all that different from work traditionally done by pipefitters and plumbers, Paulson said. And installation of photovoltaic systems requires many of the same skills possessed by electricians. In both cases, the work can be done by the sort of workers who have been idled by the construction slowdown that has swept through the economy of New Mexico and much of the country.

Albuquerque is also home to a new manufacturing plant scheduled to be completed later this year to make solar power equipment. The company, Schott Solar, has hired nearly half of the workers it needs, says Zane Rakes, head of Schott's Albuquerque operations.

The employees Schott is hiring are generally those with high- tech manufacturing skills, coming from places like Intel, Rakes said.

For more information please contact Trevor Sievert at ts@windfair.net