Subscribe
Community
Hoyer sells ‘Make it in America'
Congressman visits CSM to discuss nuclear program
Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2010
 Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photo by DARWIN WEIGEL
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md. 5th) visited the Prince Frederick campus of the College of Southern Maryland on Thursday to discuss a new initiative to bring manufacturing back to the United States called "Make it in America."
|
E-Mail This Article
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer remembers a time when the United States was considered the manufacturing capital of the world.
Globalization and outsourcing have since driven many manufacturing jobs overseas, where lower wages make for higher profits, but an economy desperate for job growth has pushed federal lawmakers to re-establish American industry.
Hoyer (D-Md., 5th) brought the "Make it in America" campaign to the College of Southern Maryland's Prince Frederick campus last Thursday, where a roundtable of federal officials and college administrators, educators and students discussed the role community colleges could play in forging public-private partnerships to train a generation of workers.
"We want people to have the vision and ability and confidence that they can ‘Make it in America,'" Hoyer said. "…A lot of people think that if America is going to be successful, it will be because America makes things."
The discussion focused on the college's partnership with the Nuclear Energy Institute and Constellation Energy Nuclear Group in developing a curriculum to train nuclear engineers in anticipation of a third reactor at the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant in Lusby.
"These kind of investments are the kind that pay off better than any others," Hoyer said. On training young people, the congressman stated, "if we do that, we can compete with anybody in the world, even paying better salaries than anybody in the world."
The project has yet to receive final approval or necessary financing commitments, but Hoyer has repeatedly said in recent weeks that he believes federal loan guarantee approval for the third reactor is imminent.
Each of the program's three partners has a role to play — the NEI is providing the curriculum, the college will educate students and CENG will put them to work.
While full-time positions cannot be guaranteed to any graduate, the plant will offer paid summer internships to the program's students and plans to "feed" its employment openings with the program, as well, said Mark Simpson, general supervisor of technical training at CENG.
"Our greatest success is if we can have local talent," Simpson said.
The company is hoping the program will yield 20 graduates and prospective employees annually beginning a few years from now, when construction on the reactor could begin, said professor Bob Gates.
"These are great jobs, great security, great pay, great company to work for," Hoyer said. "…This is such an opportunity for young people in Southern Maryland and it would be such a shame if we were recruiting all over the country when people here need jobs."
Hoyer also heard from several students at the college's Center for Trades and Energy Training, which provides non-credit apprenticeship programs and advanced skill training for electricians, welders, carpenters and HVAC technicians.
"I have to say that this community college has really been a blessing to me," said Ed Harrod, 48, of Prince Frederick, an electrician in his second year at the center. Harrod said he receives the same training at the center that he would get at a four-year university or technology school but at a fraction of the cost and with a more manageable course load. Trying to go to school full-time while raising a 15-year-old son would not be easy, he added.
"Trying to raise a 15-year-old son is not easy," Hoyer quipped.
