March 13, 2007: Can North Dakota Fuel The Job Needs of Growing Bio-Fuel Industry?

With ethanol and biodiesel gaining steam, thousands of new jobs are developing in power plants.

PRAIRIE NEWS SERVICE
A radio news service for North Dakota
March 13, 2007

Can North Dakota Fuel The Job Needs of Growing Bio-Fuel Industry?

Bismarck, ND- Here's something you probably haven't heard your children say, "I want to be a boilermaker when I grow up" - but maybe they should. With the growth of new ethanol and biodiesel plants in North Dakota, plant managers say we could soon face a shortage of skilled workers - including boilermakers, pipe fitters, sheet metal workers, and other key trades. Comments from Terry Curl with Boilermakers Local 647.

The pay is good. The benefits are attractive too. So why aren't more high school graduates going into skilled trades? Terry Curl with Boilermakers Local 647 is trying to answer that question. He says with the biodiesel and ethanol industries pushing the construction of new plants across the state, there's going to be a bigger demand for many skilled workers - including pipe fitters, sheet metal workers, ironworkers and electricians.

"You know there's actually four or five brand new plants proposed for North Dakota -- power plants, plus all of the pollution control stuff that these power plants have to have in compliance by 2011. So you stir all of that in you know, in this area, and yeah, there's going to be a shortage."

New bio-fuel plants are under construction or have been proposed in Minot, Richardton, Underwood, Hankinson, and Moorhead.

Curl, who also sits on the advisory board for Bismarck High School, says school counselors could help by sharing these jobs with their students. He says not every student is bound for college - and trades are one way to find a good-paying job...

"And there's a lot of kids that fall through the cracks, either because they cannot afford, can't afford to go to college, or they don't realize that some of these trades are out there."

Though there's not a shortage of skilled workers right now, Curl says it won't be long before there is one.