NMCC students
to sign on to summer internships
with Maine wind companies
PRESQUE ISLE – Northern Maine Community College will host a luncheon and internship signing ceremony to celebrate Maine Wind Week (May 9-15) to showcase the importance of the first and only wind power technology associate degree program in New England to the region’s economy.
“Preparing Maine’s Wind Workforce: Education and Industry Working Together,” will be held Tuesday, May 11 at noon in the Edmunds Conference Center at NMCC. The event will bring together students and faculty in the wind power technology program with representatives of companies in the rapidly expanding wind industry in Maine who are turning to the college to fill positions throughout the state and beyond.
Nearly a dozen different companies who are involved in some aspect of growing the state’s wind industry, and a number of others involved in wind outside of Maine, have been in regular contact with the college with interest in the training program. Five of the businesses are in line to take on 19 summer student interns and have turned to NMCC and wind power technology instructor Wayne Kilcollins to fill those slots.
“We have had a great deal of interest in our program from companies in the wind power and related industries throughout Maine and beyond,” said Kilcollins. “In recent weeks, a number of companies have visited campus and interviewed students in the program for paid internship positions with their companies over the summer months. We are looking forward to celebrating the success of our students and the great relationships the college has built with various companies in the wind power industry.”
At the May 11 event, representatives of a number of the Maine companies hiring NMCC student interns will be present to officially sign on the students for summer work. The wind industry officials will join the NMCC students for a Maine wind-themed luncheon followed by the signing ceremony.
Among the companies hiring NMCC wind power technology program student interns this summer are Cianbro, Larkin Enterprises, TransCanada, Reed and Reed, and First Wind.
“The work of our faculty, staff and students and our partners in the private sector has positioned NMCC as a leader in the New England region in the development and use of renewable energy as an educational and economic driver,” said NMCC President Timothy Crowley. “We take seriously our commitment to moving the campus and the state of Maine toward a future of energy independence through existing, as well as new and innovative forms of alternative energy.”
