Winds of Change

There are people on the ground who continue to work day in and day out to make sure that the world keeps running. I spoke to one of those workers in Vermont, where wind turbans line the mountain sides and power homes all across the state. Okay, opening video from a go pro are We're in a machine room growing up the ladder. Usually when I've interviewed people about their work, I get to go onside and talk to them in

their environment. But since the pandemic was in full swing, I got to see this environment through a GoPro video. H Oh wow. Okay, we are on top of the turban hooking in a harness. I will say I am pretty happy to not be recording on top of a wind turban that is literally above the clouds in this video, Oh my god, my stomach just got queasy. He's looking down the turban and the clouds are passing under beneath.

Oh my god. I feel like for people who haven't like walked up to a turban, you don't realize how big they are. That's that's the first thing you get from everybody, the first thing since like, oh my yeah, they they don't look that big from the highway. It's like, well, the highway is a few miles away. This is Jim Jim Slicer, site manager for the Chefs and wind Farming

and Shade from the up. In case you're unfamiliar, the wind turbans gym overseas are the tall white turbans you might have seen along a coastline or in a valley. Gym overseas sixteen turbans in the rural town of Sheffield, Vermont, not far from the Canadian border. How tall are the turbans that you work on? So the tower height is an eighty tower, so about two seventy and then when you know blade it's pointing straight up. Take for that blades about four wow. And in order to do maintenance.

You're going right up to the top. Oh you can see the other turbans. Wow, they're just poking above the clouds. It's just clouds. And then there's big white turbans spinning in the distance. They're really majestic. They are. I think they're beautiful. I mean allow people to say, you know, it's it's ruined the view of the monst Us landscape. And I get more people to come up here and say, I just think they're beautiful looking up at them, I

think they're great. That is absolutely crazy. You know, here we have sixteen Germans. We make forty megawatts, which is enough for fourteen to sixteen thousand homes, pretty much generating enough power of the entire Northeast Kingdom of you know some basically just a few wakers of land that have been used. The way a wind turban works is pretty simple. The wind blows, the three rotor blades spin and that

gets converted into electricity. Oh yeah, and like at ten mile on our wind and these things will make a power and my winds they're max Producing clean renewable energy has definitely been politicized over the years. There are plenty of people who say that moving towards green energy like wind and solar is taking away jobs from work in fossil fuels. But in reality, it's just opening up a whole new workforce. It's one of the fastest growing careers out there, and a great thing for it is it's

it's it's a blue collar job. Person doesn't have to have a college degree. You have mechanical electrical knowledge or kron raining like that, you can get your foot in the door and perform this job. I asked him what a standard work day looks for him, but he says that that's not really a thing for this job. And that's one of the things I like about this job. It's never the same job every day. You're not going in bunched the car and doing the exact same thing.

Jim has a team of three people, and besides maintenance on anything the sixteen individual turbans need, their tasks change fundamentally based on Vermont's intent seasons. All this to say that when you're working a job that depends on the weather, it really keeps you on your toes. Standard isn't really a word. Jim grew up in Crastbury, Vermont. He was an outdoorsy kid had a very similar upbringing to my own in Vermont, fishing, riding bikes all summer with friends.

He played a lot of sports. He later ended up joining the military and went into the Air Force, doing flight testing, developing and testing our nation's bombers and their weapons. Ah, that's why I'll do you have a favorite plane? I guess I still to say my my love is to be one bomber. I spent a lot of time that one, and it's quite a magnificent least. After the military, he worked for different contractors. He did radar operation and testing for special ops aircraft, and then he did a stint

at boeling in California. He was living in Hatchby where there are thousands of wind turbans, and it really piqued his interest. Definitely. I'm a hundred percent of leaver of renewable energy. You know, we need to get away from fossil fuels, not just you know, wind turbans, but solar, hydro, all those things. I think it's it's a it's a really neat thing. And then you know, to work three ft off the ground and generate this power that just

from the wind. Still he kept working on planes. He and his wife eventually moved back to Vermont, where he was working at the Burlington Airport as a technician. But three years in he saw that a wind farm was being built in nearby Sheffield and was looking for a good text. So after twenty five years of working in aviation, he decided to wear his options. It was pretty comparable and help from that scarre to hide and hadn't been before. So I guess I'll find out when I started doing this.

So I mean the Jim and forty two years of age more in Jim Story after the Break. A strong work ethic takes pride in a job well done, sweats over the details. This is the kind of person you need. Express Employment professionals can help. Finding the best people requires more than sorting through applications. You need to conduct a thorough surge. Express understands what it takes to hire the right person. It takes real people, real interviews, discovering the

talents you need. We find good people matching their skills with the right jobs. At Express, we find people for jobs and companies of all sizes and industries, from the production floor to the front office. Sometimes finding the best new employee really is about who you know. Express Nose Jobs. Get to know Express go to Express pros dot com to find a location near you. Jim became site manager

for the Sheffield Wind Farm in two thousand fourteen. He loves showing off the site, giving tours to schools and tourists. He especially likes explaining everything the farm offers to people critical of green energy, or people who might think that the turbans detract from the landscape. The majority of the people that you take up there are usually fifty fifty on the fence. They're not really sure do I like

these or do I not like these? You know, probably the pile like best is when you see that white bulb founding click on. They're like, uh, I get it. Yes, these make a lot of sense. I really like these. In rural communities like this, all over the country, wind energy has been insanely beneficial over the last few decades. Jim and I both grew in communities like Sheffield, where a lot of multi generational farms are doing everything they

can to hold on in a rapidly developing world. There's a lot of hesitation to give up and sell land to developers in places like this because a lot of times, that means giving up cultural values and making way for newcomers who don't really care about the area. Wind turbans haven't popping up all over these rural communities and allowing for economical development without all the unwanted change that usually

comes with it. Farmers who have ample land can invest in a wind turban that won't interfere with their crops and will be a consistent source of income that they can use or sell. Some farmers can even make up to fifteen thousand to twenty dollars a year off of one turban, precious capital that they wouldn't otherwise have. Schools have huge tax incentives to host wind turbans, allowing them to upgrade facilities and get kids the resources that they need.

And in rural communities like this, where those are specifically the problems that hit the artist, wind energy is often a perfect solution that will keep on giving as long as the wind keeps blowing. As towns like Sheffield get on board with wind energy all over the US, the growth of this industry continues to be a major job creator. Right now, over a hundred twenty thousand workers now have wind powered careers and With more turbans being built, that

means more factory work to build them. All. This rapid development has made the occupation of wind turbine technician one of the two fastest growing jobs in the entire US, along with solar installer. On top of that, America's veterans play an important role in creating this highly skilled workforce. The U s Wind industry employees veterans at a rate sixty one above the national average, providing good opportunities for men and women who serve our country when they leave

active duty. All this to say, wind energy has proven a stable source of prosperity in place that tend to get left behind as the world moves forward. As one farming couple and wash Shington State said about their turbans, as long as they're turning, we're earning for Jim. The wind farm in Sheffield not only accomplishes all of this, but it also creates a sort of modern ecosystem between locals and wildlife. The entire property is a protected bear habitat,

so we have wildlife up here. We have bearings, we have moose, we have deer, we have everything up here. And you know, if it's like a Park. The town also gets paid a lot of money each year to host the wind farm. That money goes a long way and getting resources the town really needs, like equipment for fixing roads and power lines. These sixteen wind turbans do all this while cooperating with the natural landscape that is long defined the culture here. Now I'm proud of what

we do. It's a good feeling for us. Rowington Vermont is a renewable to the city and the power we produce here, and they actually purchase power from us, so we're part of that renewable portfolio that they have to have the bragging rights to have their city renewable. Not only did Burlington Vermont reach its goal of being a renewable in two thousand fourteen, it was the first city in the entire United States to do so. Jim gets

to be a part of that. And talking to Jim, that's the feeling you get that not only does he get to do a job that pays well, a job that he's great at, but it's also a job that sincerely contributes to a more sustainable future. Do you like your job? I love it, Yeah, I really do. It's different every day and now there's some days you're like, oh my gosh, it's four o'clock already. I guess we're

going home. You know, how do you feel when you're on top of a turban at one time a year, uh January, when it's twenty below and the winds blowing. I think it's the worst damn place in the world. I don't want to be there. But now you take a nice summer that's like se degrees and a live breeze and you can go sit up on top of the cell and to have your lunch and have the most gorgeous view. It's like you're on top of the world. It really is. For On the Job, I'm Otis Gray.

Thanks for listening to On the Job, brought to you by Express Employment Professionals. This season of On the Job is produced by Audiation and Red Seat Ventures. The episodes are written and produced by me Otis Gray. Our executive producer is Sandy Smallens. The show was mixed by Matt Noble for Audiation Studios at the Loft in Bronxville, New York. Music by Blue Dot Sessions. Find us on I Heart

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