Wanted: Skilled Workers
Duke may hire 1,000 locally
By SCOTT BAUGHMAN
Daily Courier Staff Writer
FOREST CITY — One public hearing is all that remains before the Duke Energy Cliffside project begins. The new power plant could have a billion-dollar impact on Rutherford County — and could begin hiring scores of local workers as early as October. “Upon receipt of one final airquality permit, Duke Energy will ramp up construction efforts to complete its 800-megawatt, coal-fired generating plant in Cliffside,” said Bill Frykberg, chairman of the Rutherford County Economic Development Commission. “Current plans indicate that 48 percent of the $1.9 billion facility will be located in Rutherford County. This investment will result in a substantial expansion of the county’s tax base.”
But the project is even better news for the nearly 2,100 people in the county looking for work.
“ The people I’ve spoken to at both Duke Energy and Shaw Consructors, Inc. (a subsidiary of the Shaw Group), the company managing this project, have told me that they’re really interested in former textile workers and anyone in our county that has a strong work ethic,” Frykberg said. “ What they’re really looking for are workers who are drugfree and understand the value of committing to the project. One thing attractive to them about Rutherford County is that base of workers they know we have who can handle being committed to such a long-term project.”
Hiring for the undertaking is expected to begin as early as October, as long as the air quality permit is approved.
“Now, some of the workers that will be needed for the project are going to be traveling power plant workers who move all across the U.S. from project to project,”
Frykberg cautioned. “Initially, we were expecting maybe 500 jobs to be filled by local citizens. But, we now expect more than 1,000 jobs that will need to be filled by local citizens. The construction workforce will peak by about 2010 and then begin to drop off as the plant is completed in 2011 or 2012.”
Working for the Cliffside project will provide county workers with higher wages than many have seen since the textile industry collapsed.
“ The employees needed to construct such a plant have highly specialized skill sets and command excellent wages ranging from over $10 an hour for helpers to over $20 an hour for journeyman with required certifications,” Frykberg said. “ What is required are workers who are willing to work hard and perform their job to exacting specifications under tight production schedules. College degrees are not required for most of the positions, but specific skill sets and certifications are required and training will be provided by Shaw in conjunction with Isothermal Community College.”
And while high salaries for the highly skilled pipe-fitters, concrete finishers, rod benders and various other tradesmen jobs are a real draw for those looking for employment, a further benefit might be even more attractive.
“ This opportunity is really about the long term,” Frykberg said. “Once workers complete those training courses at ICC — some that will probably be tailor- made for the Cliffside project and only take about four to six weeks — they can then become nationally certified and earn their journeyman rank during work at the project.
Once that is finished, hopefully they’ll be able to move on to work on the Duke Energy Nuclear project in Cherokee County, S.C. In short, once those skills are met, they’re looking at employment for the next 10 to 20 years before they even have to leave the area.”
Local workers are more attractive to the companies involved, as well.
“ We do know that the traveling workers are going to come here,” Frykberg said. “ They’ll have a large impact on the local economy. But the companies involved have expressed to me that they’re looking for workers whom they know will want to stay in the area and be reliable.
Nationally, the industrial construction industry is facing a shortage of some 200,000 qualified workers. Gaining technical skills and certification through this project will be a life-changing experience for many people in Rutherford County and will go a long way toward helping bring the county back to what it once was in the textile boom. But this time, the local economy won’t have all its eggs in one basket, which is an even better situation.”
However, none of the project will even begin if Duke Energy isn’t awarded their air quality permit. The public hearing for that permit is scheduled for Sept. 18 at Chase High School.
Contact Baughman via email at sbaughman@thedigitalcourier.com.
“ We now expect more than 1,000 jobs that will need to be filled by local citizens. The construction workforce will peak by about 2010 and then begin to drop off as the plant is completed in 2011 or 2012.”
— Bill Frykberg
Chairman, Rutherford County Economic Development Commission
Garrett Byers/Daily Courier
If approved, Duke Energy’s Cliffside project is expected to need more than 1,000 local workers. Hiring for the undertaking is expected to begin as early as October, as long as the air quality permit is approved.
