A believer in wind and solar

Plus, he adds – he’s training his students for jobs they can find in their own community. Steve says one of the best things about the fast-growing clean energy sector is the number of good paying jobs sprouting up in rural Minnesota. That helps small towns by keeping talent local and strengthening the economy along the way.

Of the more than 57,000 Minnesotans currently working in clean energy, 30 percent of those jobs are in Greater Minnesota.

In order to stay current on industry trends and to ensure his students are getting top-notch training, Steve has formed a close relationship with EDF Renewable Energy. In fact, he recently took a sabbatical from Riverland to work for EDF full time for a semester. This training benefits all of the students that walk through Steve’s classroom door.

“As an instructor, I realize that we are today responsible for starting these students on career paths and because of that, I consider that training to be my greatest responsibility,” Steve explains.