Greenfield Community College has been awarded a $372,000 grant for a Sustainable Practices in Construction (SPC) project that will help local business leaders send employees to the college for training in renewable energy technology.

The college applied for the grant from the Workforce Competitiveness Trust Fund (WFCT) after it decided to launch a series of courses teaching students and people in the community practical ways to become more environmentally friendly. The courses offered this summer and fall include "introduction to photovoltaic technology" (panels that convert solar energy into electricity), "photovoltaic installation", "solar domestic hot water", "passive solar technology" and "energy conservation and efficiency," and more classes are being planned for spring. Resources from the SPC project grant will support the development of a comprehensive sustainable energy program, called Renewable Energy Workforce Education (RENEWED) at GCC. It will eventually include a certificate program and then, in the next three years or so, a two-year associate degree program focusing on this technology, said Nancy Bair, of GCC's workforce development office, who is the program manager on this project.

Bair said that she is particularly excited about the Sustainable Practices in Construction grant for several reasons. She thinks that Franklin County and western Massachusetts in general will be leaders in the sustainable energy industry because of its history of the area and the concentration of talent already here. In addition, she said, "GCC is a key academic, economic and cultural contributor in our region, setting high national and state standards for graduating competent employees into our workforce and transferring well prepared students into other colleges and universities."

"The SPC grant will help expand the college's new program in the timely manner required by the new energy demands in our country and the world," Bair said. "We will be providing employers with highly qualified employees that will strengthen our local economy, and we will be taking leadership in helping to solve a serious world-wide problem."

The SPC project is being funded by the Commonwealth Corporation of Massachusetts, a quasi-public agency of the state responsible for workforce development and training, through its WFCT.

The courses are meant to provide community members and students with the skills to install and maintain the new green technology that can help cut back on our carbon emissions. There is a growing demand for this technology, but the supply of people who know how it works has not caught up to that demand. They are being offered either for credit, for students seeking a degree, or as noncredit courses for people already in the workforce who want to expand their skills.

Teresa Jones, who is an adjunct instructor and the program coordinator for the renewable energy education courses, came up with the idea for the classes along with Brian Adams, professor of environmental studies and natural resources and chair of the Science Department.

The college is partnering with area business owners and individual contractors on the project. The SPC grant, which was announced on June 7, will pay for employees to attend the classes for free, under the condition that the partner businesses will give their employees paid leave to attend the classes.

"The partners are paying for their employees to go to school," Bair said. "We have, and this is unprecedented in our experience, 30 partners working with us on this project."

This project continues GCC's commitment to provide access to educational excellence for everyone in the community who seeks it.

"The Renewable Energy Workforce Education program is a great fit for our college and a great fit for our community. This collaborative is focusing on the right issue and creating the right process and these are the right partner," said GCC President Robert Pura "This is just smart economic development for our community and GCC is pleased to be an active partner in this effort. It is clear that the WFCT agrees and we welcome them as an active and engaged partner."

GCC's partners in the grant are: Franklin Hampshire Regional Employment Board/Career Center , Center for New Americans, The Literacy Project, International Language Institute, Cowls Building Supplies, Stiebel Eltron, Inc., Rugg Building Solutions, Deerfield Valley Heating and Cooling, E.W. Martin Electric, Northeast Sustainable Energy Association, Craig Builders, Palmeri Electric, Sandri Oil, Coldham & Hartman Architects, Rice Oil Company, Inc., Berkshire Photovoltaic Services, HAP, Inc., Rural Development, Inc., Center for Educational Technology, Coop Power, Northeast Biodiesel Co, LLC, Pioneer Valley PhotoVoltaics, Smith Vocational Agricultural High School, Franklin County Technical School, Greenfield Public School District, Mohawk Trail Regional Schools, Kosmo Solar, Inc., Thayer Street Associates, Pioneer Valley Regional Planning Commission, F.W. Webb Corporation, United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, Carpenters Local 108.

GCC plans to train 240 people through this program: 150 workers, many of whom will take more than one course; 30 members of "special populations" including young people, older workers and those needing English language training; and 60 college students who are transitioning into energy programs.

Patricia Crosby, executive director of the Franklin Hampshire Regional Employment Board, said it is exciting that GCC is partnering with the Employment Board as well as the vocational school and adult basic education programs.

"GCC isn't just creating a sequence of courses; they're committed to building a pipeline of new workers for this field, and they recognize they need help from the rest of the public education and training system to do so," Crosby said.

She said that according to the most recent state job vacancy report , which came out in the second quarter of 2006, hiring in the construction sector surged in the Pioneer Valley, along with hiring in education services and health. Job vacancies in these three areas rose by 35 percent. The construction industry posted a vacancy rate of 5.7 percent, higher even than healthcare.

"We feel it's going to give us the opportunity to be in on the ground floor, so to speak, in terms of responding to workforce needs in the rapidly emerging industry area of green building and energy efficiency," Crosby said.

Bair said this deal helps employees by giving them opportunities for raises and promotions and it helps business owners have more highly-skilled workers and it helps them reduce employee turnover.

In addition to Bair, Crosby, Jones and Adams, the project management team working on implementing the project includes Lindy Gougeon, associate dean of the Math, Science, Business & Information Technology division; Bob Barba, associate dean of Community Education; and Dale Macleod, of GCC's Development Department, who wrote the proposal for the grant.

For a complete listing of these and other GCC courses, please pick up a free copy of the summer course guide at the GCC main campus or downtown campus or go online to gcc.mass.edu. For more information about this program please contact Jones at .