June 2, 2020 • 13 mins
Wind turbines have changed the way our country operates and are only becoming more popular – creating highly skilled jobs along the way. In this episode, we talk to skilled technician Jim Slicer as he maintains turbines in Vermont.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
This is on the Job. This season, we're speaking with
folks who are finding their professional stride in a tumultuous
job market and learning how to double down on their
skills and their experience to overcome challenges. We'll bring you
inspiring stories of people making themselves essential, an important skill
set in any economy. Well, millions of jobs have been
(00:27):
put on hold in the wake of COVID nineteen, many
jobs in the energy sector ever made. All over the planet.
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
(00:48):
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
(01:13):
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
(01:34):
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,
(01:54):
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
(02:16):
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.
(02:40):
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
(03:04):
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
(03:25):
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
(03:45):
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
(04:05):
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
(04:27):
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
(04:47):
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
(05:08):
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
(05:31):
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,
(05:55):
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
(06:17):
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
(06:39):
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
(07:02):
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.
(07:23):
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,
(07:46):
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
(08:08):
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
(08:31):
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
(08:52):
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.
(09:15):
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
(09:36):
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
(09:58):
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
(10:19):
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
(10:41):
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
(11:03):
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
(11:24):
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,
(11:48):
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.
(12:09):
It really is. For On the Job, I'm Otis Gray.
(12:29):
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
(12:53):
Radio and Apple Podcasts. If you liked what you heard,
please consider rating and reviewing the show on Apple Podcasts
or wherever you listen. We'll see you next time for
more inspiring stories about making yourself essential as you discover
your life's work. Audition
This is on the Job. This season, we're speaking with
folks who are finding their professional stride in a tumultuous
job market and learning how to double down on their
skills and their experience to overcome challenges. We'll bring you
inspiring stories of people making themselves essential, an important skill
set in any economy. Well, millions of jobs have been
(00:27):
put on hold in the wake of COVID nineteen, many
jobs in the energy sector ever made. All over the planet.
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
(00:48):
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
(01:13):
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
(01:34):
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,
(01:54):
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
(02:16):
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.
(02:40):
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
(03:04):
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
(03:25):
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
(03:45):
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
(04:05):
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
(04:27):
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
(04:47):
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
(05:08):
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
(05:31):
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,
(05:55):
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
(06:17):
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
(06:39):
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
(07:02):
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.
(07:23):
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,
(07:46):
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
(08:08):
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
(08:31):
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
(08:52):
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.
(09:15):
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
(09:36):
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
(09:58):
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
(10:19):
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
(10:41):
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
(11:03):
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
(11:24):
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,
(11:48):
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.
(12:09):
It really is. For On the Job, I'm Otis Gray.
(12:29):
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
(12:53):
Radio and Apple Podcasts. If you liked what you heard,
please consider rating and reviewing the show on Apple Podcasts
or wherever you listen. We'll see you next time for
more inspiring stories about making yourself essential as you discover
your life's work. Audition
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