11/14/08 Learning the Ropes

Learning the Ropes. I'm Greg Martin as Line On Agriculture presents the Harvest Clean Energy Report. Planning for the future can take on two meanings, your personal goals and the goals of the world around us. Columbia Gorge Community College has developed a curriculum that helps people achieve both. Justin Brock is a student taking their renewable energy technician training program that trains people to work on wind turbines. BROCK: My parents talked to me about it and seeing the wind towers go up I was kind of curious as to where they came from and how you could go about getting into the wind towers and just started doing some research online and the college popped up. I'm originally from the area so it wasn't too much of a transition. Brock says that he already had some interest in the mechanical side of things. BROCK: I've always kind of tinkered with electricity and electronics so the thought of climbing towers with that aspect behind it excited me. To think they're putting these huge structures in the ground and they can harness the wind from it and create electricity, it's nothing but a win-win situation if you really look at it. Columbia Gorge Community College offers a 1-year Certificate and a 2-year Associate of Applied Science Degree in Renewable Energy Technology. BROCK: I'm in the second year so a lot of the first year classes were tailored specifically for the wind towers. They've done a lot of research into it. They've worked with other colleges that has the program and tailored theirs to meet the needs of the wind industry. And it seems like whatever they've thrown at us in the classroom, it's been brought to our eyes by somebody out in the industry already. Brock spent last summer interning with a company in the industry and he says that there are more jobs available than there are students to fill them at present. BROCK: At my internship they have an agreement if I want to after the second year I can come back and work for them since I've gone through the 10-week internship with them so just from what our instructors have told us and seeing it I wouldn't even know what's possible out there. It's wide, yeah, wide open. If you have an interest in the Columbia Gorge Community College program their website is www.cgcc.cc.or.us and for additional information on clean energy, visit harvestcleanenergy.org. That's today's Line On Agriculture. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network. www.harvestcleanenergy.org www.cgcc.cc.or.us