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Columbia Gorge CC Teaching Wind Farm Worker Skills by Associated Press KNDO / KNDU, March 8, 2010

YAKIMA, Wash. - The wind farms sprouting across Washington and Oregon need technicians who can climb 200 feet in the air to work on turbines.

Over the next five to 10 years more than 700 jobs will be available, paying an average starting wage of $20 an hour. That's according to a December report published by Columbia Gorge Community College in The Dalles and the Yakima-based South Central Washington Workforce Council.

The Yakima Herald-Republic reports Columbia Gorge Community College accepted its first students in 2007 in the renewable energy technology program.

Walla Walla Community College has started a wind turbine technician technology program. It's the lead community college for wind technology in Washington. Three others are partners for distance learning: Yakima Valley Community College, Wenatchee Valley Community College and Columbia Basin College in Pasco.

Information from: Yakima Herald-Republic