Hartford Business Journal

HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | MAY 27, 2024 15 Building Ideas That Work... We're Connecticut's industry leader in the Design/Build delivery of projects providing full service in-house engineering and general contracting. For more than 80 years, we've provided quality and reliability with design and energy efficient construction. We're prepared to work with you all the way from concept to occupancy. We would love to discuss your project with you. Phone: (860) 482-7613 Email: sales@borghesibuilding.com Website: borghesibuilding.com Address: 2155 East Main Street, Torrington, CT Project Spotlight: Mizu 21 Building Ideas That Work... CROWLEY FORD, PLAINVILLE SULLIVAN HONDA, TORRINGTON Contact us at 860.482.7613 or visit us at BorghesiBuilding.com 2155 East Main Street Torrington, Connecticut 06790 © 2011 BlueScope Buildings North America, Inc. All rights reserved. Butler Manufacturing ™ is a division of BlueScope Buildings North America, Inc. SULLIVAN JEEP, TORRINGTON No matter what brand of vehicle you purchase, you want to be sure that it is reliable. Choosing a builder should be no different. For more than 80 years, Borghesi Building & Engineering Co., Inc. has provided quality and reliability with design and energy efficient construction. With on time construction, Borghesi Building & Engineering Co., Inc. will create a smooth transition from construction to completion. Building Ideas That Work... CROWLEY FORD, PLAINVILLE SULLIVAN HONDA, TORRINGTON Contact us at 860.482.7613 or visit us at BorghesiBuilding.com 2155 East Main Street Torrington, Connecticut 06790 © 2011 BlueScope Buildings North America, Inc. All rights reserved. Butler Manufacturing ™ is a division of BlueScope Buildings North America, Inc. SULLIVAN JEEP, TORRINGTON No matter what brand of vehicle you purchase, you want to sure that it is reliable. Choosing a builder should be no different. For more than 80 years, Borghesi Building & Engineering Co., Inc. has provided quality and reliability with design and energy efficient construction. With on time construction, Borghesi Building & Engineering Co., Inc. will create a smooth transition from construction to completion. Building Ideas That Work... CROWLEY FORD, PLAINVILLE SULLIVAN HONDA, TORRINGTON Contact us at 860.482.7613 or visit us at BorghesiBuilding.com 2155 East Main Street Torrington, Connecticut 06790 © 2011 BlueScope Buildings North America, Inc. All rights reserved. Butler Manufacturing ™ is a division of BlueScope Buildings North America, Inc. SULLIVAN JEEP, TORRINGTON No matter what brand of vehicle you purchase, you want to sure that it is reliable. Choosing a builder should be no different. For more than 80 years, Borghesi Building & Engineering Co., Inc. has provided quality and reliability with design and energy efficient construction. With on time construction, Borghesi Building & Engineering Co., Inc. will create a smooth transition from construction to completion. the publication of Connecticut's first "strategic roadmap" for economic development in the offshore wind industry, which is being implemented and supported by the Connecticut Wind Collaborative. The collaborative's core mission revolves around four pillars: workforce development; infrastructure and real estate; manufacturing supply chain; and research and development. "Right now, my priority is learning as much as I can about what every- body's doing and what currently exists," Urbach said. "And then from there, building those connections, collaborating and conducting meet- ings with those stakeholders within each pillar." The multistate collaboration isn't necessarily new — Connecticut and Rhode Island have already been working together on workforce and supply-chain development because they share a long history of Navy submarine production with General Dynamics Electric Boat, which has facilities in both states. Under Urbach's leadership at the North Kingstown Chamber of Commerce, the business association applied for and won grant funding for jobs-related training and workforce development programs, specifically aimed at Rhode Island's offshore wind industry, she said. "We conducted a symposium with all the stakeholders who were involved in the Block Island Wind farm build out as well as adjacent businesses, and what we learned is the workforce is aging out," Urbach said. In response, Rhode Island has created state-sponsored career pathway training programs for offshore wind jobs that aim to attract young people to the industry and upskill adult workers for this type of work. Urbach said her grant-writing expe- rience was crucial for implementing new programming, and she hopes to replicate those types of workforce development initiatives in Connecticut. She's spent the last several weeks meeting with Connecticut Wind Collab- orative board members and local training providers, and the next step is connecting with high schools and universities to discuss programming opportunities in the education system. "We want to uncover any entity that's currently providing some type of wind-related classroom exposure or experiential learning opportuni- ties, so I can connect the dots and build a program without completely reinventing the wheel," Urbach said. "In every industry — it's hard for them to attract talent. So, you really need to begin with developing those K-through-12 pathways." In 2022, Connecticut had 304 wind electricity jobs, which represented 0.42% of the energy workers state- wide, according to the U.S. Energy and Employment Report, produced by the U.S. Department of Energy. 'Once-in-a-generational opportunity' The crucial offshore wind-related jobs are tied to the construction, operation and maintenance of wind turbines, Urbach said, in addition to manufacturers needed to build parts. Lavoie said he's seen esti- mates that Connecticut has the potential for up to 5,000 offshore wind industry jobs by 2040, and it's the collaborative's job to help the state get there. "We know we've already created hundreds and hundreds of jobs, and getting our arms around that is really objective one for the collaborative — what have we already created and what kind of workforce are we going to need?" Lavoie said, pondering future board discussions. The time is now for Connecticut and the Northeast as a whole to establish and fully flesh out its wind industry, Lavoie said, and he expects to see big leaps in the next several years. "This is a once-in-a-generational opportunity to stand up a brand-new industry in the United States of America," Lavoie said. Reporting from the CT Mirror was included in this story. Map: Canary Media | Source: U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Energy & Employment Jobs Report, 2023 Jobs in wind power generation by state (2022)

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