As Duane Neighbors’ son Nicolas was exploring Education for Employment opportunities offered by Kalamazoo Valley Community College’s Wind Turbine Technician Academy, it was the 52-year-old realtor who found a new calling.
Neighbors says the more he heard about the program the more excited he became. Soon he and his son were both enrolled.
The program is academically rigorous and physically demanding. The pace of learning is intense. Classes are five days a week, eight to 10 hours a day for 26 weeks. But Neighbors says he’s maintaining a 4.0. Not bad for a guy who hasn’t been in the classroom for 35 years.
Regarding work on the 100-foot-tower for the wind turbine they must work on, Neighbors says he keeps himself in decent shape and has not had any difficulties with the climbing. "This is really on-the-job training,” he adds.
Having come from the currently stalled field of real estate sales, Neighbors is excited about the potential for the wind energy field. He anticipates his previous background in management--he’s headed up prime hotel properties in Florida for Hyatt Regency and Universal Studios--will serve him well as he moves into a field where demand outpaces supply of technicians and their managers. He believes management offers could be in his future.
Neighbors says he thoroughly researched the program before enrolling and was impressed with the types of jobs academy grads are getting and how quickly they are finding positions in the industry. "Most had jobs before the course was over," Neighbors says.
Adding to his enthusiasm about the program, Neighbors recently received the Stoner/Schmiege Wind Turbine Technology Academy Scholarship that has made it financially possible for him to take classes. "This was heaven sent,” Neighbors says.
Writer: Kathy Jennings, Second Wave
Source: Duane Neighbors, Student, Kalamazoo Valley Community College
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