Community Corner

COD Program Certifying Vets as Building Operators Has First Graduates

The unique pilot program is designed to help returning military veterans who find themselves out of work; three vets became the first to graduate from the free program this month.

The College of DuPage's test program for educating military veterans as operators of energy-efficient buildings, designed to provide assistance for out-of-work vets, saw its first three new certified grads this month, the Chicago Tribune reports.

According to the paper, Hector Ayala of Aurora, Paul Gawley of Downers Grove and Alex Dawson of Arlington Heights all completed the 74-hour course, offered for free to qualified veterans through a partnership between the Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (MEEA), the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity and the Illinois Department of Veterans.

Gawley told the paper that the certification has already provided him many more consulting gigs. "When you get out of the service, you're going into civilian life and the private sector and everything is different," he told the paper. "Your path is laid out for you in the service. When you get out, you're on your own and without support, it's very different."

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Ayala's certification has scored him a new job with ComEd, and Dawson, a 22-year-old college student, is using the course to supplement an energy-management degree, the paper said.

The program targets veterans with skills and experience that make the transition to commercial building, according to the Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance. In addition, the program seeks to address the high unemployment rate among returning veterans, which was about 11 percent in 2011.

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“MEEA’s pilot program, which is the first of its kind in the nation, benefits both veterans and their prospective employers,” said Jay Wrobel, executive director of MEEA in a prior news release. “Program participants receive training and certification that help them compete in the job market and save Illinois businesses energy and money.”

Read the full story at the Chicago Tribune website.

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