Monday, May 21, 2012
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By Kym Reinstadler | MiBiz
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WEST MICHIGAN — Learning organizations in Ottawa and Muskegon counties are charging ahead to develop training, certificate programs and associate’s degree programs to support the Advanced Energy Storage (AES) industry.
High-performance batteries could be an $8 billion annual industry by 2015, according to Pike Research. Economic development engines are working to make the lakeshore a North American hub for AES manufacture, integration and recycling.
The Thompson M-TEC, a partnership between the Ottawa Area Intermediate Schools and Grand Rapids Community College, and the Ottawa County office of Michigan Works! teamed up to conduct two job fairs this spring to begin staffing entry level positions, beginning with WorkKeys testing. More than 800 people turned out in Holland and 340 attended in Spring Lake.
Grand Rapids Community College is well on its way to customizing training and creating degree programs for LG Chem and Johnson Controls-Saft, whose Phase I investments for battery manufacture in the Holland area top $500 million.
“Advanced energy storage training has been our intensive focus for the last three to six months,” said Fiona Hert, dean of GRCC’s School of Workforce Development. “We’re shooting to launch a two-year program in Advanced Energy Storage in the fall, although winter 2012 may be more realistic.”
Hert anticipates enrollment of 30 to 40 students — some who have already been hired in by the companies — who would be taking a for-credit program that includes math, chemistry, lean manufacturing and industrial safety. GRCC’s chemistry technician program has a common nucleus.
GRCC is also working with LG Chem and Johnson Controls-Saft to create non-credit, customized training for some of the first operators and technicians hired for the highly automated industry.
On-the-job training specific to a manufacturer’s products or processes may contain proprietary information inappropriate for general instruction, said Mary Hofstra, senior program manager of GRCC’s Certified Business Solutions program.
Muskegon Community College is already working with fortu PowerCell Inc. to customize training for production-level employees at a Muskegon Township plant, which won’t be constructed until fall 2012.
“It’s good the Muskegon jobs are down the road a bit because it gives people time to develop themselves into attractive candidates for those jobs,” said Jeff Stipes, an MCC applied technology instructor who’s working with fortu to develop training. “We already know fortu will want workers trained in business communication, electronics and quality control, and those classes already exist.”
People hoping to work in the advanced energy storage industry can take a sequence of core classes now, which will put them in a better position to be hired for one of the 125 Phase I jobs paying about $19 per hour at fortu. The company plans to grow to about 700 employees in Muskegon after 2013, according to reports.
MCC classes tailored to the specific needs of the field are still being developed in partnership with fortu, Stipes said.
For example, AES production workers will need to be adept at chemistry, but only the non-organic variety, Stipes said. Traditional chemistry courses emphasize organic chemistry.
Furthermore, fortu likes the flexibility of online instruction which new hires or prospective employees could start any time, Stipes said. But quality instruction in chemistry must involve lab experiences, which may be challenging or costly to arrange in an open-entry, online platform, Stipes said.
Fortunately, community colleges are generally nimble enough to respond quickly to various levels of training needs of area employers, Stipes said.
He envisions MCC providing a certificate program in battery production requiring 28 to 32 credits, and an associate’s degree in AES requiring 62 to 64 credits, at least one third of which would be industry-specific coursework.
It’s possible different certificate or degree programs may be needed to support the training needs of different employers. Most AES work on the lakeshore will support the automotive industry, although potentially lucrative opportunities also exist for marine, defense, aerospace, commercial and residential applications.
There is also a movement in K-12 education to offer more early college opportunities, which could help develop the highly skilled workforce the AES industry requires.
“The idea is that the programming would be flexible and broad enough that a participating student would have a more informed idea of what the advanced battery industry is and what some of the emerging post-secondary education and employment opportunities will be in the future,” said Jason Pasatta, director of career and technical education development for the Ottawa Area Intermediate School District.
“Ideally,” Pasatta continued, “the student would leave the program with some of the initial course-work completed toward a certificate program or an associate’s in engineering or a related field.”
Grand Valley State University’s Michigan Alternative and Renewable Energy Center in Muskegon just hired an associate director of research and technology to advise the emerging industry and work toward standardization where it makes sense.
That search took a whole year, Director Arn Boezaart said, because the AES industry is evolving so rapidly that it’s difficult to find talent with state-of-the-art experience.
MAREC will announce that new hire when he comes on board later this summer, Boezaart said.
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