Rand Corp. released two energy workforce development studies commissioned by the US Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory in Morgantown, W.Va., on Aug. 31.
The first study evaluated how West Virginia’s high schools and community and technical college systems prepare workers for the shale gas industry, DOE’s Fossil Energy Office (FEO) in Washington said. It said the second study considered ways that 32 contiguous counties in Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, and Ohio could recognize the direction of technological innovations and align energy workforce training to encourage these trends.
FEO said it already has implemented several other workforce development initiatives in West Virginia and the southwestern Pennsylvania area. These include an advanced energy simulator at NETL, which focuses on safe, reliable, and efficient energy plant operations and control; and ShaleNET, a consortium of community colleges led by Westmoreland County Community College that helps build oil and gas industry careers, it said.
Contact Nick Snow at [email protected].
