Independent Notes: Training and keeping people in the Kemmerer/Diamondville area.
As TerraPower reviewed construction of the Kemmerer Natrium Nuclear Site, Kemmerer 1, as it was referenced throughout the Monday evening presentation, it noted that the facility would include a training center.
Training those who will work at the site will be important to overall success.
The company is wise to prepare and sustain a workforce for an industry that will continue to expand.
Kemmerer is just the start of a what will be a rapidly developing new energy industry in the coming years.
While the company develops a training program it would be wise for Kemmerer to continue developing a community that serves as good and comfortable place to call home with the necessary services for individuals and families locating in the area.
In the southwest, it is and will be easy to find homes in one of several communities.
I was reminded of this on one of many early morning journeys as I traveled through Kemmerer and out past the Exxon Mobile Shute Creek facility headed to another state meeting.
As I had traveled past the plant and continued south I found an endless stream of traffic coming from the Green River/Rock Springs area and, perhaps the Bridger Valley area, headed north to work in the Kemmerer area.
I realized these were people employed at a Kemmerer area facility but had chosen to have their homes in the surrounding southwest communities.
Not only will we need to train our employees at the Nuclear site, we’ll need to further develop a Kemmerer/Diaondville area that becomes their home.
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I have read too many stories, fictional and non-fictional, of the “boom-town” character of small communities overwhelmed by an influx of workers who have no roots in the community. They usually paint an unpleasant picture involving the kinds of activities that follow. It’s an old, old story told in the gold fields of 19th Century California, Idaho and Nevada as well as in the oil & gas fields of late 20th Century Wyoming and the Dakotas.
In order for Lincoln County to benefit most from the growth of energy-related industries like Terra Power, a real committment to making it a home town for everyone has to be a priority.