ETM Enterprises, Inc., based in Grand Ledge, is making news in two ways. The former parts maker for trucks and recreational vehicles has landed a multi-million dollar green contract with one of the largest companies in the world, Siemens A.G., to make parts for wind turbines.
In doing so, it also won a grant from Capital Area Michigan Works to train up to 50 entry-level, green-economy workers.
Van Jones, author of The Green Collar Economy, predicts that jobs like these are the solution for both the country’s unemployment numbers and the overheating planet. Jones will speak in Lansing in May at the Green Today/Jobs Tomorrow Conference.
Prospective E-T-M employees for this program need to be able to read, write and have math skills, and be able to lift heavy equipment, Steven Mohnke, E-T-M vice-president, says. CAMW will screen applicants at three service centers: 2110 S. Cedar St. in Lansing, 101 W. Cass St. in St. Johns, and 311 W. First St. in Charoltte. The trainees are expected to be in place by mid-March, Mohnke says. The entry-level workers will earn $9.50 to start, but Mohnke expects they will quickly earn more. Positions include laminators, finishers, fork lift drivers and quality technicians.
The Siemens contract with subsidiary Siemens Power Generation, Inc. is worth $5 to $6 million, Mohnke says, reticent to disclose the exact amount. The workers will make 440-pound parts that will be trucked to Iowa where they will be attached to the bases of wind turbine blades.
Source: Steven Mohnke, E-T-M; Kate Tykocki, Capital Area Michigan Works
Gretchen Cochran, Innovation & Jobs Editor, may be reached here.
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