LIHUE — Wednesday was, like it is on most days, “Job Creation Day” at the WorkWise Kauai office in Lihue, said Eric Nordmeier, the county office’s branch manager. What was different, however, was that prospective local employers were the ones
LIHUE — Wednesday was, like it is on most days, “Job Creation Day” at the WorkWise Kauai office in Lihue, said Eric Nordmeier, the county office’s branch manager.
What was different, however, was that prospective local employers were the ones visiting that afternoon.
“This is Job Creation Day, or awareness day about what is out there,” Nordmeier said.
And there is a lot to look forward to as Green Energy Team, LLC and Kukui Grove Center officials kick off their hiring efforts over the next few weeks.
The first job event, hosted by the Green Energy Team, LLC, is scheduled for 12 to 1 p.m. and 6 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 27 at Kauai Community College’s Office of Continuing Education and Training in Rooms 106 C and D.
The session will include a presentation on the 39 new positions scheduled to be created for its $90 million, 6.7-megawatt biomass-to-energy facility in Koloa, which is scheduled to open in September.
Two-thirds of those jobs, or 26 positions, are currently being offered for field jobs in which employees harvest and transport identified invasive species trees or planted, non-invasive ones that are chipped and sent to the biomass plant to be processed, Green Energy Team, LLC Fuel Manager Gilles Lebbe said.
“I’m just really, really excited to get it going,” Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. said. “I know there’s been some challenges along the way, but like anything else, we work through it.”
Although some specialized jobs for the plant may have to be filled by Mainland workers, Green Energy Team, LLC Project Director and Manager Mario Scharf said the company is putting an emphasis on hiring local workers.
“We want people to be connected with our plant because we know we are on an island far away from anything, which means, if we have a team on board, we want to keep them on board,” Scharf said.
A partnership between Green Energy Team, LLC, the Kauai Community College Office of Continuing Education and Training, and WorkWise Kauai would allow employees needing extra training to enroll in specifically developed OCET courses.
WorkWise Kauai, in turn, would subsidize tuition costs for those courses.
“We’re thrilled to be involved with this,” OCET Director Bruce Getzan said.
Lebbe said the workforce on Kauai is unique because people have had to do many jobs over time due to economic changes.
“If they’re multi-skilled, that’s very good,” Lebbe said. “We just have to move them toward what we need and that might take maybe six months or a year, but I’m confident we’ll get there.”
Another job event is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on March 8 and 9 at Kukui Grove Center, where new merchants, Pier 1 Imports and Sports Authority, will be looking for applicants to fill more than 70 jobs.
For more information or to reserve a space for the OCET event, call 245-8318.
• Darin Moriki, county government reporter, can be reached at 245-0428 or dmoriki@thegardenisland.com. Follow him on Twitter at @darinmoriki
