Olympia, LOTT, Port begin plans for a technical training center

The City of Olympia, LOTT Clean Water Alliance, and Port of Olympia are working together to plan a new technical and trade training center and anticipate seeking experts to develop programs to address current and future workforce issues.

At the Olympia Finance Committee meeting on September 21, Olympia’s Economic Development Director Mike Reid updated committee members on the technical and trade training center inter-local agreement entered by the Olympia City government, LOTT, and the Port of Olympia in February 2022. 

He said the collaboration with the two key partners – the LOTT and Port of Olympia, is in line with the city's comprehensive plan goals – collaborating with local economic organizations to maximize economic opportunity and to create new and maintain existing living-wage jobs.

"The Port of Olympia and the LOTT are two key partners that do produce living-wage jobs in our community," Reid said.

Elevator pitch

Reid said they recognized the need for a consistent “elevator pitch” to explain the project to the community.

According to Reid, the conveners have retained Nancy Campbell, the consulting lead to the project. She has started interviewing all the interested parties to identify and prioritize goals for the technical and trading center project.

Among those included in the scoping interview are people in the education sector – South Puget Sound Community College (SPSCC), The Evergreen State College (TESC), Olympia School District (OSD), Tumwater School District, North Thurston School District and St. Martin's University.

"One of the areas that conveners agreed on is they recognize the need to invest in the next generation of workforce. But we are not educators. We may be convening this exercise, discussing workforce training and development. We would need to step aside and let the subject matter experts do the work in a facility like this," Reid told the committee members.

Reid said the group involved in this project also agreed on some focus areas for their elevator pitch:

• A multi-purpose training center that will serve as the interface between industry and environmental sustainability
• A center that can foster education and trade training programs and also workforce development, economic development, and environmental sustainability
• A center where the experts in education and training can partner to expand and develop the programs needed to address today's and the future’s maritime and water resources workforce issues.

Education participation

Reid mentioned they plan to hold a broader stakeholder retreat, tentatively scheduled on October 28. "The work that comes out of that retreat will drive some future timelines associated with the project.

Finance Committee chair Lisa Parshley noted she pushed for education to be represented at the table. "Having spoken to the Olympia School District, they have hired five people to explore the idea of trade training from grade school through high school – because not every high school student will leave and go to college."

She added that Tumwater and North Thurston School Districts might be doing the same thing.

Committee member Jim Cooper suggested checking on three models that may be helpful in the technical and trade training programs:

• Plumbing, steamfitting and Heating-Ventilation-Air Conditioning training and apprenticeship program of the United Association Local 26 union’s Hawks Prairie location.
• New Maritime High School in the Port of Seattle
• Smart Heroes Program – service members can avail of free sheet metal industry training, including welding and HVAC services, to active-duty military men and women and recent veterans.

The Smart Heroes Program is offered at Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM) in DuPont, Washington, and Fort Carson in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Pipeline of talent

“We’re very supportive of this work; it’s a great project,” according to Thurston Economic Development Council Executive Director Michael Cade, who told The JOLT that “it’s something that the EDC would view as being very important for our youth as well as for the private sector to help them build a pipeline of talent."