Summit focuses on economic power of wind

Developers, equipment manufacturers, suppliers, legislators, financiers, and others who believe that wind energy could be the force that leads to billions of dollars of investment and restores the economic might of the Great Lakes region will come together in Cleveland July 20 to discuss the fastest growing industry in North America.

Two presenters at the three day summit -- Freshwater Wind 2010: Building the Successful Business Case for Offshore Wind Development in the Great Lakes -- are from Kalamazoo Valley Community College.

Cindy Buckley, executive director of training at M-TEC, home to the KVCC Wind Turbine Technician Academy, will be on a panel that looks at the skilled labor needed to construct offshore wind farms and maintain the giant turbines clustered there.

Buckley's audience will hear about KVCC's second wind-turbine academy that started 26 weeks of intensive training on June 12. The class includes 11 students from Michigan.

The first-of-its-kind training academy in the nation received 90 applications for the 16 slots.

Tom Sutton, the academy's instructional manager, will speak on servicing offshore turbines. He will address technological considerations in operating and maintaining offshore turbines and safety-training requirements.

Across the Great Lakes region major developments want to take advantage of some of the most reliable and strongest wind resources in the world. Several sessions during the three day conference will address tapping those resources and developing the infant offshore wind industry. Keynote speaker, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) will discuss the challenges and opportunities of the wind industry.

Writer: Kathy Jennings
Source: Tom Thinnes, KVCC