• Job Corps applicants bussed into Kemmerer. 

Two bus loads of potential employees unloaded at the South Lincoln Training and Events Center in Kemmerer the first week of October.

The travelers included young men and women coming from the Wind River Job Corps to hear presentations from the companies that have started preparing Kemmerer for the construction of the TerraPower Nuclear facility.

Rita Meyer, with Wyoming Energy Futures, coordinated the day-long event that started with introductions and presentations in the training center and then moved to the job site on U.S. 189 south of Kemmerer.

Meyer organized the event in a  competitive workforce environment.

“We have a deficit in the workforce across the United States and especially in Wyoming,” explained Meyer in an interview with SVI Media that was aired on the Weekday Wake-Up  program.

To address the deficit Meyer used her years of experience in Wyoming government to draw on a familiar resources.

“I have had an affiliation with the Job Corp Center since it opened,” she recalled, acknowledging the work of the late U.S. Sen. Enzi from Wyoming in creating the center.

Meyer said various degrees and training are already under way with the center. “These young men and women, a lot of them, are getting their high school diploma and GED at the Job Corp Center” through “14 different training programs.”

She added, “We all know that is how the door starts to open for employment.”

Meyer acknowledged the importance of technical training with employment. “I was one of those kids that if I didn’t have access to technical training, I don’t I don’t know where I would be today. I started in a technical school. These kids are starting where I started.”

Meyer advised that many in these existing training programs will be vital to the initial construction.

“Today we as employers, as in TerraPower, as in Bechtel — our major contractor and builder — we are absolutely laser focused on what I call the farm team, those that are getting initial training skills that will be a part of our work force for the future.”

Meyer said the Kemmerer trip offered a starting point for that work force.

“They have interaction with the presenters today, the employers,” she emphasized.

She further explained the initial employment could also lead to further careers in energy. “Once the facilities are built and we start to generate power to make electricity, then what kind of jobs are available?”

Meyer noted employment with larger operations may include organized programs for the workforce such as transportation and housing.

“We want these workers and we want them on our projects here in Wyoming,” Meyer concluded. “We may need many more in the future.”