Minnesota Ag Connection - College-Level Ethanol Training Program Graduates In-Demand Plant Operators

Minnesota Ag News Headlines

College-Level Ethanol Training Program Graduates In-Demand Plant Operators
By: Jonathan Eisenthal, MN Corn Growers Assoc. - 01/22/2008

When an ethanol plant launches, a ready pool of electricians and pipefitters can provide skilled workers, but what about people who know how the process control computer "speaks" to the equipment in the ethanol plant? What about people who understand the practical aspects of taking the starch in corn through a biological process, transforming that starch into sugar using the chemistry of enzymes as a catalyst, and then finally feeding that sugar to yeast in order to make ethanol? Then there's a working knowledge of the chemistry of distillation-the process of separating water out of alcohol.

A small number of training programs are working overtime to create that pool of skilled workers who will become ethanol plant operators.

The Granite Falls campus of Minnesota West Community and Technical College created the first college-level training program for ethanol plant operators in 2000, and ever since it has graduated some of the most in-demand workers anywhere. More than 130 ethanol plants operate nationwide, and another 70-plus are due to come on line this year, but still the industry anticipates a shortage of qualified people to run those plants.

Developed with the full participation of the ethanol industry, especially that of Fagen, Inc., also located in Granite Falls, and the builder of approximately 70 percent of U.S. ethanol plants. The Minnesota West model has become the one to imitate and has been undertaken in Nebraska, Illinois and Indiana. The high-paying technical jobs located in rural areas make for a very attractive employment opportunity, and rural communities cheer on the economic impact of that job creation.

"The typical 50 million-gallon-per-year ethanol plant employs 30 to 35 people and of those 18 to 20 will be plant operators," said Duane Carrow, director of the Minnesota Energy Enterprise Center at Minnesota West-Granite Falls, and one of the principal instructors in its renewable energy technology program. The program graduates operators for both ethanol and biodiesel plants.

One of the reasons so many of a plant's employees are operators is that the economics and logistics of ethanol production favor round-the-clock ethanol making. Fermentation batches "cook" for 60 hours, and in the meantime the plant grinds grain continuously in and distills finished batches continuously, in order to separate the water out from the alcohol and render a pure fuel.

Though each plant devises its own approach, Carrow has seen many plants go to a schedule of two 12-hour shifts, with teams of operators working four days, and then taking four days off. The plants tend to have teams trade off day and night shifts on a monthly basis.

Carrow estimated that 80 percent of its graduates go directly into plant operator positions, while the remainders transfer into four-year programs such as engineering for renewable energy.

The typical plant operator schedule can be part of the attraction of the job, but for some it proves a challenge. Four-on, four-off works well for younger farmers who serve as junior partners coming into an operation with an older relative, Carrow observed. It also fits in well for people who like hunting and fishing. However, the night shift particularly can be a difficulty for people with young families.

The pay may be the chief attraction, said Carrow. Beginning operators start at $14 to $15 per hour and those who have gone through the degree program tend to advance quickly into the $17 to $22 per hour pay range. About 25 percent of plant operators move up to become process managers, a position that pays between $60,000 and $80,000 per year, according to Carrow.

Typically, when a plant investment group announces its equity drive that sparks interest and gets people from the local area to enroll in the Minnesota West program, so that by the time they graduate the two year program they are ready to step right into the job and perform at a high level.

"Still, the trouble we have is hanging on to them long enough to get them to finish the degree program," said Carrow. Often they get snapped up by waiting ethanol plants, and then complete their training on the job.

It's a flexible approach to ramping people up for the work of running an ethanol plant. In addition to the degree program, Minnesota West offers an on-line renewable energy certificate that doesn't require any time on campus.

Because new ethanol plants can't get enough degree-program graduates to fill their positions, they often hire their workers about six weeks before they begin operating the plant, and then bring in Carrow or others among the small but growing pool of renewable energy educators, to come in and conduct a crash course. The course does offer credits to the hirees, should they decide to go on and get the online certificate, or even enroll for the degree program.

These programs, along with Bismarck State University in North Dakota will turn out as many trained operators as possible this year, but they may not be able to cover all of the estimated 1400 new plant operator positions at 70-plus ethanol plants due to come on line across the country this year, not to mention the need to fill positions at existing plants.