ENERGY TECHNOLOGYCENTRALIA COLLEGE

THE CENTER OF EXCELLENCE

WINTER 2007 Vol. 1 No 2

Congressman Brian Baird (D-WA) is the most recent na-tional-level official to offer his unbridled support for the Centralia College Center of Excellence for Energy Tech-nology. In a recent visit, Baird met with college officials, Energy Technology staff, and students in the high-vis-ibility energy programs.

Joining Baird for brief talks prior to the meeting were Centralia College president Dr. Jim Walton, Center of Excellence Director Barbara Hins-Turner, vice president for Instruction John Martens, Dean of technical/voca-tional training Steve Miller, and Bob Guenther, IBEW labor lobbyist. Rep. Baird was quick to praise the col-lege’s work in energy training, which is setting a prec-edent around the country.

Walton began the meeting with students, energy in-dustry workers, and college faculty by thanking Baird for his help in getting funding for the program and En-ergy Technology student scholarships. Several students, workers, and staff then outlined the pressing need for energy technology training.

“We need these students to keep the lights on,” said Glenn Phelps, the former Florida Power & Light plant operator for 30 years, whose classroom was being used to hold the meeting. “It has to be here,” Phelps added, looking around the specialized instructional set-ting. “The energy industry can no longer train their own people fast enough to meet the growing demand.”

Hins-Turner told the Congressman that seven of the eight students who finished courses at the end of last year already had jobs. Since that meeting other hires have landed positions at Grand Coulee dam’s power-house, PSE, and Chehalis Power. This year, when the next class will move into the workforce, the number of qualified energy technology graduates will jump to about 20. Hins-Turner said several thousand spots will open up in energy technology over the next 8-10 years, and an energy technology training program such as that being sponsored by the Center of Excellence will need to expand into a dozen or more colleges to meet regional

U.S. Rep. Brian Baird praises Center of Excellence and the partnerships that keep it going strong

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Energy Summit

2007June 21 & 22

Join us to hear industry and labor leaders speak out on regional eco-nomic development initiatives, renewable energy projects, and work-force development solutions during the 2007 June Energy Summit. The Summit will begin at the Satsop campus, near Elma, WA., and conclude on the second day and features the high school Energy program at the New Market Skills Center in Tumwater.

For a complete outline and agenda, please call Cindy Mann at the COE, at (360) 736-9391, ext. 280 or e-mail: cmann@centralia.edu.

IN THIS ISSUERep. Brian Baird visits the COE to support new energy initiatives ..... 1

IBEW Local 77 support ................ 2

Skills Panel bill ............................. 2

New COE Advisory Board Leadership ................................... 2

Director’s message ...................... 3

Training Center plans continue .... 3

Wenatchee Valley College energy program comes to life .................. 4

Student perspective ..................... 5

PSE leadership support ............... 5

Labor looks at Satsop .................. 6

U.S. Rep. Brian Baird, left, meets to discuss the Satsop campus potential with Barbara Hins-Turner, COE executive director, and Dr. Jim Walton, president of Centralia College.

power production training needs in the near future.Baird counseled the group to seek more details

on the need for future expansion and to look at the instructional equipment and facilities needed to complete the region-wide training initiative. That, Baird said, allows congressional supporters to find available money and explain how it will be spent. “We can tell them, ‘You’re the missing piece, but not the entire puzzle,’” Baird said.

Baird reserved his highest praise for the way the COE for Energy Technology has put together partnerships to get the project started and to keep it energized. “I really think this is a model,” Baird explained. “When you have industry, education, community, and organized labor working together to meet a critical need, it’s not an abstract con-cept. It’s something we can do and need to do. We need those skilled workers.”

Proposed Skills Panel bill wends its way through legislative hearings, receives wide-spread support

Pat McCarty, Tacoma Power’s Generation Manager, takes on Center of Excellence Advisory Board leadership position

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IBEW Local 77 knows our future begins with today’s youth

Patrick McCarty has served as the Generation Manager for Tacoma Power since 1996. Mr. McCarty joined Tacoma Power in 1979 serving in various engineering positions before becoming Engineering Manager in 1993. His responsibilities as Generation Manager include Tacoma’s seven dams and powerhouses, along with the associated fish hatcheries, parks and tens of thousands of acres of lands and reservoirs. Pat’s responsibilities also include the relicensing and license implementation and compliance of the hydroelectric projects. He received his B.S. in Civil Engineering from St. Martin’s College and is a licensed professional engineer.

In January, the Washington state Higher Ed and the Senate Economic Development, Trade and Manage-ment committees held public hearings on Senate Bill 5254, which creates a grant program for indus-try skill panels. Sponsor Sen. Derek Kilmer, D-Gig Harbor, introduced the bill by stating it is a way to align workforce and economic development. The bill recognizes that a skilled work force is essential for employers and job seekers to compete in today’s global economy. The engines of economic progress are fueled by education and training.

The bill recognizes that industry skill panels are a critical and proven form of public-private partnership that harness the expertise of leaders in business, la-bor, and education to identify work force develop-ment strategies for industries that drive Washing-ton’s regional economies. Industry skill panels foster innovation and enable industry leaders and public partners to be proactive, addressing changing needs for businesses quickly and strategically. Industry skill panels leverage small state investments with private sector investments to ensure that public resources are better aligned with industry needs.

Pam Lund, associate director of the Workforce Training and Education Coordinating Board, provided an overview of what industry skill panels do and how they dovetail into a continuum of services provided by workforce partners.

Barbara Hins-Turner, director of the Center of Excellence for Energy at Centralia College testi-fied in favor of the bill. She said that Washington is leading the nation in developing skill standards for industry and labor and we have only scratched the surface on delivering skill standards to education

through the linkage between industry skill panels and Centers of Excellence.

Bob Guenther of the IBEW Local 77 and Pat McCarty of Tacoma Power, both representing the energy industry, also testified in support of the bill. Puget Sound Energy’s Jay Pickett, Todd Arndt of TransAlta, and Dave Johnson, with Washington state Building Trades, also testified at separate hearings as the bill continues to work through the system.

Additional testimony in support of the bill came from John Loyle, of Pacific Mountain Workforce Develop-ment Council; Dave Klick, Northwest Food Processors Association; Dale Harper of Franciscan Health System; and David D’Hondt of Absher Construction.

Let me confirm our resound-

ing support for your efforts

at the Center of Excellence

for Energy Technology. IBEW

Local 77 understands our

future begins with today’s

youth. We look forward to

bringing the concept of pre-

apprenticeship training to

students prior to college, and

to higher education as well.

The Center of Excellence

for Energy Technology’s

pre-apprenticeship program

is a great opportunity for our

next generation of work-

ers in Washington. We look

forward to working together

for many years to come.

–– Don Guillot, Business

Manager, IBEW Local 77

A meeting of the bill advocates, from left: Jay Pickett, PSE, Carolyn Cummins, SBCTC, Barbara Hins-Turner, COE, Bob Guenther, Labor, John Loyle, Pacific Mtn. Workforce Dev. Council.

CENTRALIA COLLEGE

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Director’s Message

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By Barbara Hins-Turner

I would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to each of you for your contributions to the COE over the past year. It is this spirit of collaboration that has created the link that built a unique partnership among indus-try, labor, education, workforce, economic develop-ment and government.

It is this partnership link that drew 150 people to our Energy Research Summit last June. It is the same link that has drawn national attention to the collab-orative Power Generation Skill Standards project for Plant Mechanics and Plant Operators. It is the link that brought unprecedented legislative support that included visits from Governor Christine Gregoire and Congressman Brian Baird.

Our link has drawn national support from lead-ers such as Jerome Ringo, President of the National Apollo Alliance, our 2006 summit keynote speaker who came at the invitation of Senator Maria Cantwell. Further encouragement came from the National Co-alition on Education and the Economy, whose lead-ers visited at the invitation of the Pacific Mountain Workforce Development Council. Industry lead-ers that have visited include Southern Cal Edison, Southern Company, Edison Electric Institute and the Center for Energy Workforce Development.

We continue to share our collaborative success at the state, regional and national level. As a result, our link continues to expand through presentations that include:

• Western Labor and Management Public Affairs Committee (LAMPAC), Coeur d’ Alene, Id.

• Pacific Northwest Higher Education Teaching and Learning Conference, Vancouver Wa.

• Pacific Northwest Regional Economic Development Council, Portland, Ore.

• Workforce Training and Education Training Coordi-nating Board Skills Panel Institute, Seattle, Wa.

• Washington State Labor Conference AFL/CIO, Wenatchee, Wa.

• NW Hydro Managers Regional Forum, Bellevue, Wa.• Edison Electric Institute, Center for Workforce

Development, Charlotte, NC. • International Power GEN, Orlando, Fl.

Alliances such as the one we are building don’t just happen. To get to this point, our success has required countless hours that individuals and orga-nizations have been willing to contribute. To reach the next level, it will require every one of us to come forward with an open mind, a willingness to openly communicate, to ask the tough questions and be willing to listen. The effort will require a continuing level of community, trust, and respect.

We at the Center of Excellence offer our profound thanks for the ongoing support and encouragement you’ve all given us as we continue to refine the goals we’ve set out to accomplish.

Establishing a regional training center to provide rapid response to emerging work-force training needs at Satsop Development Park began to gain support in late 2005. The concept was to establish a center with classroom and administrative space while the rest of the park offered space, equipment and facilities that were not available anyplace else. Many of the park’s facilities could support advanced skilled-worker

Satsop advanced training center featured at June Energy SummitFocused Energy Technology

partnerships draw attention from state, national leaders

(Photo, left) IBEW #77 line apprentices at the 2006 Energy Summit

training in several career fields.Perhaps the park’s most important

function is as a central Energy Technol-ogy training facility that would help meet the pressing need for skilled workers. To that end, the Centralia College Center for Excellence for Energy Technology, under the guidance of Barbara Hins-Turner, held the region’s first “Energy Summit” there in 2006.

In the ensuing year, strides were made by the COE to build partnerships that would support the concept of the Satsop site while laying the groundwork for satellite energy training across the Northwest.

Hins-Turner has scheduled a second Energy Summit at Satsop for June 21, 2007. Meanwhile, labor, industry, work-force, government, and education partners are lining up to continue the discussions and bring the concept nearer to reality.

“We set out with the idea we should ‘Energize Satsop,’ and make the site our principal training center,” Hins-Turner said.

“If you draw concentric circles around the park in a 30-35 mile radius you are touching every major urban area in our five-county region; the draw is phenom-enal,” explained Michael Kennedy, Ex-ecutive Director of the Pacific Mountain Workforce Development Council. Coun-ties served include Mason, Lewis, Grays Harbor, Thurston and Pacific.

Collaborators in the regional training center project include the state commu-nity college system, the Pacific Mountain Workforce Development Council, WSU, regional Economic Development Coun-cils, labor and industry leaders, and gov-ernment agencies.

Hins-Turner believes the future for Satsop is limitless. “We’ve even heard from out-of-state and overseas power producers,” she said. “Satsop could one day be a resident facility, serving the needs of a variety of energy interests.” The upcoming June summit promises to be one of the most exciting new devel-opments in the unfolding Satsop story and a giant step toward meeting the industry’s training needs.

Wenatchee Valley College launches its Energy Tech program to train the mid-Columbia region’s utility workers

Growing partnerships

Chelan PUD Report on WVC Program

Randy Stedman

Director, Human Resources Chelan PUD

Chelan County PUD was extremely pleased to work with WVC to tailor a certificate program that meets our spe-cific needs. The utility industry has relatively high paying jobs, but faces a tremendous short-age of workers over the next few years—just when the US workforce overall begins to retire in significant numbers.

Chelan PUD has 165 workers eligible for retirement within the next five years. In planning to replace an aging workforce, the question for us is whether we “buy” talent in a very competitive market, or “build” talent through training and apprenticeship programs. For skilled craft workers, it makes a lot more sense for us to invest in apprenticeship and training programs. Partnering with WVC and the Center of Excellence for Energy Tech-nology at Centralia College is a very efficient way for us to develop talent from our local market. Working with IBEW, we believe the energy technol-ogy certificate program will shorten the apprenticeship time by as much as a year, making it a very cost-effective solution.

4

Senior Operator Tim Breen of Chelan Public Utility District addresses the first Wenatchee Valley College Energy Technology students as they stand on the Rocky Reach dam forebay deck. The class has 18 students. Energy Technology Program at the college has a waiting list of individuals looking to complete the training

program as they prepare for joining the energy field workforce.

Marcia Henkle, Workforce DeanWenatchee Valley College

Wenatchee Valley College, located in the heart of the Columbia River Hydro Operations system launched, a new, one-year (three-quarter) pre-apprentice en-ergy technology certificate program in fall 2006. The energy technology program is designed for students who are planning a career in the power generation industry - such as power plant operators, mainte-nance and repair workers, electrical power line re-pairers and installers, first-line supervisors and man-agers – where a 50% decrease in the workforce is expected over the next five to eight years. As the “Baby Boomers” have begun to retire, industry and labor are reaching out, wanting to hire workers who have already shown motivation and initiative in be-coming more competitive in gaining entry into ap-prenticeship programs.

WVC has worked hand-in-hand with the Mid Co-lumbia PUDs to find out their needs, and the courses and curriculum that will allow students the opportu-nity to improve their chances by emerging ahead of

the average applicant. This new energy technology program has benefited greatly from the assistance of the Washington State Center of Excellence for En-ergy Technology at Centralia College (COE), which serves as a point-of-contact and resource hub for industry trends, best practices, innovative curricu-lum and professional development opportunities.

Through cooperative efforts with industry and labor, the COE has supported knowledge trans-fer initiatives through the development of industry skill standards by industry subject matter experts. These standards were used to ensure the WVC En-ergy Technology program aligned with industry skill standards. WVC incorporated four COE Centralia College Power Operations courses into the Energy Technology Certificate. These courses are delivered via ITV broadcast in a collaborative effort to deliver the most relevant and appropriate curricula. Staying connected to the voice of industry, while collabo-rating and utilizing the resources of the COE, has ensured that WVC builds and delivers an enduring program.

CENTRALIA COLLEGE

When a student returns to college to train for a new career, it’s usually because they are unemployed or the old job has no future. But sometimes a person will put aside a good-paying, stable job because the promise of stability just isn’t enough. The Energy Technology Program at the Center of Excellence has several examples of good stu-dents doing just that.

Consider the case of Adrienne Tennison, an evening student in Energy Technology who left a comfortable career with a major investment firm to find the kind of hands-on challenge that would provide her the stimulation and compensation she wanted. For Tennison, happiness would never be thirty years in a plain brown cubicle!

Tennison was raised in the Puyallup Valley where she gradu-ated from high school and then entered Western Washington to seek a degree in industrial de-sign. The cross-discipline of sci-ence and art appealed to her. “I’ve always been a visual learner,” she explained. “I thought the combination of graphic art and en-gineering would be my niche, but it didn’t work out that way.”

She got a position in the graphics department of a major investment corporation, where she discov-ered an aversion to the “golden handcuffs” in which a corporate lesser could easily become imprisoned.

So Tennison researched career options and finally

discovered power operations––a career with unlim-ited potential and personal satisfaction. “It was ex-actly what my visual, hands-on character needed,” she said. Then she began contacting power produc-ers from Chehalis Power to PSE to Bonneville to ask about internships or apprenticeships.

“They all told me to contact the Center of Excellence at Cen-tralia College,” she said. “They all said that would be the best way for me to get a start in a rewarding energy career. Boy, they were right”

Tennison is a night school stu-dent, building her career while she continues working days. She sees a kinship with many of her fellow evening students.

“I’ve found that a lot of adult learners find themselves so caught up in making a liv-ing they have no time to enjoy life,” Tennison speculated. “One of the things I like about night Energy Technology classes at Centralia College is that there

are people like me, who are breaking out of the tired old mold and learning to do something fulfilling. It’s exciting.”

As the Energy Technology Program matures, it will be replicated with help from the Center of Excellence at Centralia College. Wherever the classes are held, you can be sure you’ll find students with ambition, solid goals, and the vision to see their future success in the energy industry.

Looking to enjoy life A career in energy provides satisfaction

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Adrienne Tennison

The graying workforce in plant operations, maintenance and construction presents a growing challenge for the power industry. We are losing experience and face a short-age of educated, skilled per-sonnel. This session discussed the actions that companies are taking to meet the challenge and how to attract, train, and develop skilled, highly produc-tive workers.

Barbara Hins-Turner, Centra-lia College Center of Excel-lence director, led discussion on Creating Learning Organi-zations Through Partnerships.

Dear Barbara (Hins-Turner, executive director, Centralia College Center of Excellence)

As I prepare to retire from PSE, I wanted to be sure to let you know how much I have appreciated the opportunity to work with you and the Center of Excellence at Centralia College. You had the cour-age to take off and fly based mostly on a lot of faith in the businesses and unions that have partnered with you in this venture.

And even more important is the continuous col-laboration with unions, especially IBEW, which has turned Centralia College into the regional leader in training the future workforce for the Energy Industry. SATSOP is a giant step forward and one you have plunged into with a lot of enthusiasm. “Build it and they will come” is the motto you and Bob Guenther

from IBEW Local #77 have embraced as you started to build on a dream. Other colleges and more busi-nesses are coming into the picture as it becomes clearer how important SATSOP can be in our future.

I see the rest of the country now looking at Cen-tralia College as a prime example of what can be done when the right parties are together at the table – the businesses that need qualified workers, the unions who represent the workers and the colleg-es who have the expertise to provide the training. Bringing us all together has been the key to success and I am honored to have played a part!

Thank you for the great adventure. I look forward to what happens next!

Very truly yours,Barbara RevoDirector of Labor Relations, Puget Sound Energy

Retiring PSE Labor Relations director knows that Centralia College sets the standard for how to do it right

POWER-GEN International Conference

Orlando, Florida

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CENTRALIA COLLEGE COMPLIES WITH EEOC GUIDELINES

By Bob Guenther

We’re all keeping an eye on the progress our partners make in the coming year toward a Regional Training Center at Satsop. The principles of flexibility, hon-esty, collaboration, persistence, and openness have built a strong partnership.

The Pacific Mountain Regional Training Center at Satsop is a lot further along than it was 12 months ago thanks to many and especially Centralia Col-lege’s Center of Excellence and Director Barbara Hins-Turner.

I believe the anchor program for success will be to bring on training for the future workforce in the en-ergy field by using the momentum established by the COE. When that is accomplished many other fields of training will come on line at the site. We already have other organizations asking about the training possi-bilities.

Our region has been selected as one of four in the United States to receive mentoring from the Na-tional Coalition on Education and the Economy. This group has agreed to facilitate establishing a govern-ing board.

To establish an effective energy program we must collect the data needed to show what the future holds for industry. We are in the process of collecting the funds to conduct a confidential survey of those

Bob Guenther, IBEW union leader, has traveled many

miles and volunteered many hours in support of the Center

of Excellence at Centralia College and the campaign to

“Energize Satsop.”

The partnership of

organized labor with

Centralia College and

others who support the

dream of a regional

training center at Satsop

has created new and

welcome relationships

in the energy technology

industry. A perfect

example is the cooperation

among power producers,

union plant operators,

and mechanics. Power

producers hosted the

meetings of skilled power

workers that led to the

development of much-

needed skill standards that

will begin a new era of

training endorsed by both

labor and the industry.

What is a Center of Excellence?

CENTRALIA COLLEGE

CENTER OF EXCELLENCE

600 Centralia College Blvd

Centralia, WA 98531

(360) 736-9391, ext. 280

From Olympia, 753-3433

www.centralia.ctc.edu.coe/

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needs. I am proud to say labor has stepped to the plate with the first three thousand dollars. The Pacific Mountain Workforce Development Council is working towards collecting the funds necessary and will administrate the ef-fort. Director Mike Kennedy deserves a pat on the back for this effort.

We have been able to work around sev-eral bumps in the road by using the basic principles that got us to this point; I hope the next 12 months match the progress we made last year. If so, we will have a Regional Training Center at Sat-sop with Centralia College’s Center of Excellence as an anchor program.

Centers of Excellence are colleges designated by the Washington State Board of Community and Technical Colleges as statewide leaders in spe-cialized workforce education and training for industries that help the state’s economy grow.

Centers of Excellence serve as a point-of-contact and resource hub for industry trends, best practices, innovative curriculum and professional de-velopment opportunities.

Centers of Excellence maximize resources by bringing together work-force education and industry partners in order to develop highly-skilled em-ployees for targeted industries.

Centers of Excellence will:• Maintain an institutional reputation for innovation and responsive education

and training delivery to their targeted industry• Act as a broker of information and resources related to their targeted

industry for industry representatives, community-based organizations, economic development organizations, community and technical colleges, secondary education institutions, and four-year colleges and universities

• Translate industry research into best practices• Provide system coordination, coaching, and mentoring to assist in building

seamless education and work-related systems• Build a competitive workforce for driver industries in Washington State

For further information on the Centers of Excellence, please visit the SBCTC Web site at www.sbctc.ctc.edu/workforce/CtrsofExcellence.asp

Satsop training center moves closer to reality

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