Mountain State Matters

There was an article in the State Journal this morning about the possibility that green jobs may be coming to West Virginia.

I’m not entirely sure why this didn’t happen a couple of years ago…the state is full of open space (albeit most of that space is on mountains) and definitely needs the economic development. The State Journal said that most of the jobs that will be coming only require a high school diploma, which in my mind means that the 75.2 percent of the state with a high school education should be able to take advantage of these jobs.

The article mentioned three jobs specifically: wind turbine technician, recycling center worker, and hybrid car manufacturer.

Dave Groberg of Invenergy said his company expects to employ about 20 people at salaries of about $35,000 at the facility it proposes for Greenbrier County.

“In some parts of the country where you have a more advanced industry and have a lot more projects, like west Texas, we are starting to see training programs crop up at local technical colleges,” Groberg said. “West Virginia certainly has the potential to create a decent-sized wind industry,” one that would justify training programs.

Ironically, running right next to this story in the Journal was another one about how green jobs will require new skills.

The lesson here is that if West Virginia wants to take advantage of the industry, the state will have to start providing the necessary skills to students in its vocational and technical schools. Otherwise, the companies will go back to West Texas, where there’s definitely a lot more flat land.

Photo: Friends Friends Friends