Feds fund Northwest green job training

Some funds may go to wind manufacturers.

Oregon Manufacturing Extension Partnership was awarded $5 million from the U.S. Department of Labor in early 2010 for job creation and training in the renewable energy sector.

While the Beaverton-based agency—which provides business and technical support to manufacturers, and partners with economic development organizations—has received federal labor department grants in the past, this grant is somewhat different, says OMEP executive director Pat Murphy. Administered by OMEP, about 80 percent of the funds are expected to go to regional workforce investment boards. The investment boards, in turn, are expected to direct the funds to community colleges that offer training for renewable energy sector jobs.

“The intent is kind of a fast track to get people working,” Murphy says. Many of the state’s community colleges already offer “green” jobs training programs. The grant is intended to get job-seekers into such programs.

The other portion of the grant would go to renewable energy sector manufactures and suppliers to help them become more productive and efficient, Murphy says—which could help them create more jobs.

Murphy credited Oregon’s strong existing manufacturing and education infrastructure, as well its Business Energy Tax Credit as being instrumental in helping the state win federal dollars.

The OMEP grant is part of $500 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds that were allocated to job training in the energy efficiency and renewable energy sectors. Seattle-based Northwest Energy Efficiency Council was awarded almost $4 million to implement workforce training in Washington state. Meanwhile, the states of California, Oregon and Washington each received more than $5 million through an additional stimulus-funded grant program targeting “green” job creation.