Press Releases


BCC and tidal energy company team up on green job training

December 26, 2008 6:00 PM

A partnership between a Fall River community college and a New Bedford business will begin teaching potential workers about renewable energy and the processes used to produce it this month, with the goal to educate future workers in the industry.
A total of 15 students will be taught operational functions for turbine prototypes and tidal turbine technology in a course that looks at how tidal power, sometimes called tidal energy, can be harnessed to create energy. The course is being run through a partnership between Bristol Community College and Natural Currents New England LLC, a tidal energy company based in New Bedford.

Overseen by BCC's Center for Business and Industry, the green jobs program is being supported through a $5,000 training grant from the Community Foundation of Southeastern Massachusetts and the Southeastern Environmental Education Alliance, aimed at introducing local residents to a wide range of job opportunities in tidal power and marine services.

The six-week boot camp-style job training will run Jan. 7 through Feb. 11 and is being marketed to women, minorities and blue collar workers who in New Bedford.
John Long, assistant director of BCC's CBI, who wrote the grant, said the course will split its time between BCC's New Bedford campus and Natural Currents' Cove Street facility and will teach students about turbine units, including how they provide electric power to interconnected grid systems that require no fuel and produce no pollutions.
Operating out of a 10,000-square-foot facility in the Quest Center, Natural Currents is a renewable energy technology company that promotes clean hybrid, tidal and hydro-power, according to the company Web site.

Company president, Roger Bason, said the educational program will provide information regarding a range of job opportunities that may soon become available including machinists, assemblers, electricians, turbine deployments, and engineers.

The need for quality workers in the field is rising, according to Bason who pointed to orders for tidal turbines from Alaska, New Jersey and New York City that has Natural Currents crunching numbers to determine how many employees they will need for the four projects. The turbines will be constructed and assembled at the company's Cove Street plant in New Bedford'.

According to Bason, job opportunities may start out as a handful but could easily grow to several hundred once the final build out of its business plan commences. The tidal energy course, he said, will not only provide an industry overview but will include hands-on assembly, site visits and evaluations. "(It) serves a multitude of purposes in being informed about the green jobs movement and will give us the opportunity to work with potential future employees and to see who they are and how they work," he said.

According to CBI Dean Carmen Aguilar, the green jobs program is one of many to come as a college-wide green initiative takes hold. As part of a National Energy movement, BCC will host a Health Care Industry green jobs conference in April where the industry's reliance on oil will be discussed along with initiatives for green energy exploration. "Programs like this one (Natural Currents) provide us with the opportunity to accomplish our goals of increasing the potential for green jobs in the area and to promote sustainable energy in and around our community," said Aguilar. "We all believe the path to sustainable energy will improve so many factors in the area including the economy, the workforce, educational components and the environment and to help improve the community around us. That's why this college is here."