Finding a work force for clean energy (Charlotte)

David Hollars doesn’t have an easy answer for mid-career engineers asking what training they would need to transition into the energy industry.

It’s a question he often hears as executive director of the Centralina Workforce Development Board.

The region’s expanding energy sector holds special appeal for engineers and other white-collar professionals hit hard by the recession. But energy is far from a one-size-fits-all industry.

The design and construction of power plants is splintered into coal, natural gas, hydro, nuclear and alternative fuels. Other industry segments include power generation and distribution, manufacturing and a variety of green-energy fields. Each has different needs and professional specialties.

"It’s so broad in some instances and so specific in others," Hollars says. "I wish there was an easy solution: Go do this and you’ll get a job."

But transitions are possible from other technology-based industries, says Jeff Merrifield, senior vice president at The Shaw Group Inc.’s Charlotte-based Power Group.

Merrifield says skills in instrumentation and control or in piping, for example, are consistent across different industries. General mechanical and electrical engineering skills are harder to transfer without a basic understanding of power generation, he says.

That’s where schools such as Central Piedmont Community College and UNC Charlotte come into play.

"They’ve done a tremendous job of developing training programs for newly minted engineers," Merrifield says. "But it’s difficult for folks who are further along in their career to plug in to where we need them at Shaw. I’d like to see some industry-specific, nondegree training courses to help transition someone into energy companies like Shaw."

Charlotte has enough companies in a similar business — Shaw, Areva NP Inc., Toshiba America Nuclear Energy Corp. and URS Corp. among them — to identify broad training needs, he says.

For now, professionals should research companies and the requirements for jobs that interest them.

Read the full story in the Charlotte Business Journal.