LITTLE ROCK — About $2.5 million in federal stimulus money is helping launch new “green jobs” initiatives at Arkansas’ two largest community colleges, officials said Friday.
About $1.3 million will go to Northwest Arkansas Community College and $1.2 million to Pulaski Technical College, Gov. Mike Beebe said at a Friday news conference at Pulaski Tech’s south campus in Little Rock.
The money will help the two schools create about 60 new courses and certification programs to help prepare graduates for “green-energy jobs” such as energy auditing, home weatherization, and heating-and-cooling system maintenance, Beebe said.
As traditional manufacturers increasingly outsource labor to foreign countries, Beebe said, the colleges will prepare graduates for the “jobs of tomorrow.”
“If you think weatherization, and green technology and construction ... are not going to be with us for the rest of your lifetime,” Beebe said,“I would suggest that you’ve misread the tea leaves.”
The funds were provided by the U.S. Department of Energy through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The colleges should start training students by summer.
Pulaski Tech President Dan Bakke said the schools should eventually offer about 60 new courses and certification programs. The majority of the new courses will be noncredit offerings with curricula that take only a few weeks to cover.
Each school also will create “mobile training labs” equipped with computers, software, tool kits and diagnostic equipment, Bakke said. The mobile labs will travel across Arkansas, offering training sessions to the state’s other community colleges.
Northwest Arkansas Community College President Becky Paneitz said the classes are suitable for those already working in the field or those looking to transition into a new career.
“I hope, frankly, we’ll identify people who are unemployed,” Paneitz said. “We can bring them in, retool them and get them these skills so they can go out and be productive in the work force.”
James Robinson is a Northwest Arkansas Community College student already training to become a heating-andcooling system repairman.
Robinson said in a telephone interview that he goes to school part time while working in the computer industry.
An Iraq war veteran, Robinson said he’s looking forward to taking some of the new “green” courses this summer. The extra training may help Robinson catch on with a company after he earns his certificate.
The job market in Northwest Arkansas is tighter of late because of the struggling economy, he said.
“The market for new installations isn’t good now because of the decline in new construction, but there’s always demand for repair work,” he said. “The heatingand-air-conditioning business is just always something I’ve wanted to do.”
Arkansas, Pages 11 on 02/27/2010