SALISBURY, Md. - Wicomico County looks to benefit from the budding wind energy industry.
A Salisbury business, Arcon Training Center, recently received certification from the Global Wind Organization, to provide safety training to those people who work on wind turbines.
The Arcon Training Center is the only of its kind on the East Coast, which Arcon president Katarina Ennerfelt, is quite proud of. "Salisbury is the first town on the East Coast that does this training. It's an international training and it will be training centers that have any little part in offshore wind and Salisbury is right there. We [are] first!"
The training center offers a five day safety course for offshore wind workers. Over those five days, trainees are likely to spend their money locally. Mike Dunn, president of the Greater Salisbury Committee, says the long-term economic impacts are "tremendous."
"They [wind workers] will be staying in our hotels, eating in our restaurants and doing a little bit of shopping while they're in town."
Arcon offers four training modules. The training covers areas like sea rescue, moving materials, and how to safely scale a wind turbine. Ennerfelt says most of the training is learning how to take care of someone else if an accident occurs.
Ennerfelt, speaking to the local economic impact, says the training has already benefited the local economy. Pointing to part of the lifting and scaling module, she says the steel used to construct the module was purchased on the Mid Shore in Cambridge.
Arcon hopes come spring, more courses will be offered at the Arcon Training Center in Salisbury.