For Immediate Release

June 20, 2007

ENERGY WORKER TRAINING GRANT
AWARDED TO NW ENERGY COALITION

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Helping to address the expected shortage of skilled workers in the energy production and transmission industries in the Pacific Northwest, the U.S. Department of Labor has awarded a $5 million "workforce training" grant to the Satsop Park Energy Coalition, Congressman Norm Dicks learned Wednesday.

            The grant was issued by the Labor Department's Employment and Training Administration to help the Grays Harbor and surrounding community expand the base of trained workers needed to replace the estimated 10,000 workers in the existing pool of energy-related jobs who are expected to retire in the next five years.  It will fund the "WIRED" program developed by the coalition that involves four regional community colleges as well as Washington State University's Extension Energy Program and Social & Economic Sciences Research Center.   The program will utilize the Satsop Development Park as a training campus site.

            "This is an excellent opportunity to help dislocated workers and others in our area gain valuable job skills as the region confronts the need for skilled utility workers," Rep. Dicks stated.   "With unemployment on the Olympic Peninsula still higher than elsewhere around the state, it makes more sense to train local people for these high-paying energy industry jobs than to try to attract workers from outside our area," the congressman added.

            The coalition partners include Grays Harbor College, Centralia College, Pierce College and Bellevue Community College, in addition to WSU, the Bonneville Power Administration, Satsop Development Park, the Pacific Mountain Workforce Development Council and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

            The program, which was endorsed by Governor Christine Gregoire and Washington's  congressional representatives, will extend over three years.

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