Salem To Use $50K Grant For Offshore Wind Industry Training Program

SALEM, MA — Salem will use a $50,000 state grant to help train future North Shore employees in the city's pending offshore wind energy industry.

The equity workforce grant from the state Clean Energy Center and the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs will target aspects of the "Blue Economy" — the utilization of ocean resources for economic growth — and focus heavily on the potential workers from environmental justice communities.

The program will be designed to provide candidates with an intentional and successful career pipeline to the renewable energy industry.

In September 2021, Vineyard Wind entered into an agreement with the city and Crowley Maritime Corporation to form the public-private partnership it said could create 900 full-time equivalent jobs over the first five years of the project.

The agreement stated that Crowley will buy 42 acres surrounding Salem Harbor Station, which is currently owned by Footprint Power LLC, and will redevelop and operate the port with Vineyard Wind as its anchor tenant. The site will be used for turbine assembly, staging activities and storage ahead of offshore turbine installation.

Officials said Salem Habor's deep water port makes it the ideal location for an offshore wind location on the North Shore.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)