Forum links area military personnel with energy jobs
PITTSBURGH – U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz was in Pittsburgh Friday to help power up a program linking military members to energy-related jobs.
Moniz and officials from the U.S. departments of Defense, Labor and Veterans Affairs met with energy-industry leaders for a roundtable discussion on filling current and future jobs in energy. The focus was on connecting military veterans and those transitioning from service to these opportunities.
The roundtable was organized by the Energy Alliance of Greater Pittsburgh, a partnership of energy-related businesses, universitites, nonprofits and research bodies such as the National Energy Technology Laboratory in South Park. The alliance is a program of the Allegheny Conference of Community Development and Innovation Works.
A news release from the Allegheny Conference said the chief executive officers and federal officials agreed to three strategies to accelerate training and hiring of vets and service members: a program of “career awareness, assessment and training at up to four military installations; increasing recruiting of un- and underemployed veterans already in the Pittsburgh region” and “exploring further the creation of an interagency Energy Workforce Institute.”
Pittsburgh and its surrounding region, according to the release, has more than 25,000 jobs available, including 2,500 in energy and related manufacturing. And the need for employees will be exacerbated with the retirements of more than 100,000 baby boomers over the next decade.
Moniz said: “Pittsburgh is an ideal location to create the next-generation energy workforce, combining workforce training and advancing technologies. The National Energy Technology Laboratory, one of 17 federal energy laboratories in the U.S., is located here. There is a growing energy sector due to the emergence of the shale gas industry. And there is strong support from community leaders.
“I think Pittsburgh is unique is bringing all of these strengths together in one place,”
Morgan O’Brien, chief executive officer of Peoples Natural Gas and chair of the Allegheny Conference, said: “We have seen firsthand the value that military veterans bring to the energy sector. At Peoples, we have hired veterans who have been ready to contribute from their first day on the job.”