A Sign of Spring on a Fence on Route 1, Falmouth, Designed and Created by Nancy Lund.
New England Aqua Ventus, LLC (NEAV) and Maine Building and Construction Trades Council (Council) announced earlier this week in Portland that the two entities have reached agreement on a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) regarding the role of Maine labor in offshore wind projects in the Gulf of Maine
NEAV is currently developing the offshore wind demonstration project near Monhegan with floating platform technology developed by the University of Maine.
The MOU creates a framework that will lead to future negotiations of a Project Labor Agreement (PLA). The agreement envisions that the Council and its affiliated local unions will provide skilled tradesmen and tradeswomen to the construction of offshore wind in Maine.
The MOU also includes initiatives to bring new workers into the skilled trades to work on offshore wind. NEAV and the Council have agreed to work together to develop training and workforce development programs. One of the initiatives is to use pre-apprenticeship programs like Helmets to Hard Hats and Building Futures to recruit and train veterans and local disadvantaged young adults for employment on offshore wind projects.
NEAV is proud to partner with the Council and its affiliated unions in this first of a kind project, with the common goal of providing hundreds of great paying union construction jobs while combating climate change. NEAV and the Council will work together towards a sustainable and equitable future for Mainers
NEAV is committed to providing substantial opportunities for Maine workers and businesses by building a supply chain in the state for offshore wind and maximizing the involvement of Maine-based organizations in all aspects of the project.
The Monhegan demonstration project is expected to produce more than $125 million in total economic activity and create hundreds of Maine-based jobs during the construction period.
Construction, following all permitting, is expected to occur during 2022 and 2023.