Partnering to Double Louisiana’s Energy Workforce
Process technology students at River Parishes Community College train to become refinery and chemical industry operators in a lower-carbon energy future. From left to right: Reece Gautreau, Joshua Grimes, Morgan Haddock, Austin Brumfield, Zachary Sheets, Samuel Aldy, D’Marius Aikens and Jordan Goodlow. RPCC is a partner in the LSU-led FUEL consortium to elevate Louisiana’s energy workforce, create jobs and drive innovation in both traditional and new energy.
– Elsa Hahne/LSU
In January, LSU led a team of more than 50 education, industry, government, community and capital partners to win the largest, most competitive grant ever awarded by the National Science Foundation to build regional innovation engines to transform local economies and bring new solutions to the world. LSU’s team, called Future Use of Energy in Louisiana, or FUEL, is focused on expanding the state’s number-one industry—energy—through workforce and technology development and by converting research into readily available solutions and tools.
Recent state estimates say today’s energy job count could double by 2050. The current energy workforce of around 250,000 could then employ as many as 500,000, and that is something FUEL will help enable, including by steering resources to industry-aligned programs at Louisiana’s two-year community and technical colleges. FUEL elevates both traditional and new energy sources and the state’s vast chemical manufacturing industry, with dozens of plants clustered along the Mississippi River between New Orleans and Baton Rouge.
“Our college has always been affiliated with advanced manufacturing to provide skilled employees to work in the facilities right in our backyard,” said Quintin Taylor, chancellor of River Parishes Community College, a FUEL partner with four campuses along the river. “Process technology and instrumentation and electrical are our top programs, and we’re now looking at challenges as opportunities.”
In advance of the FUEL win, River Parishes Community College embarked on an ambitious effort to work directly with industry to retool its sometimes decades-old curriculums and create a Future of Energy Workforce Consortium that is focused on talent development as well as upskilling and reskilling incumbent workers and college instructors—and more.
“This is not just a project. It’s a movement that will impact generations, pull families and communities out of poverty and meet the workforce needs of the local energy sector of today and tomorrow. It’s a strategic move,” said Theron Williams, Shell Americas Learning Solutions Manager for the U.S. Gulf Coast, referring to the college’s efforts to connect their educational programs with energy companies’ evolving needs and other academic systems, such as LSU and Southern University, with FUEL enabling closer alignment between education and industry at large.
During his off Fridays, Williams chairs the Future of Energy Workforce Consortium, setting up office in Taylor’s conference room.
“This is how we really begin to fundamentally change not just the energy sector, but communities in Louisiana that in some instances have not always had access to education, good incomes and careers,” Taylor said. “FUEL will continue to build on what we’re already doing, because it takes resources, it takes people and it takes time. Putting together our workforce consortium and partnering with FUEL, this is how we serve our students for the future.”
“Choosing to join the academic efforts to make Louisiana the next energy epicenter was a huge opportunity for me to foster change, growth and work in an expanding arena.”
– Donovan Thompson, a chemical engineer who recently joined LSU FUEL partner River Parishes Community College as dean of their new Energy Sciences Division and as executive director of their Future Energy Workforce Consortium. A key focus of LSU’s FUEL initiative is to attract and retain top talent in Louisiana.
“We’re diversifying; we’re not replacing. We have several refineries in our backyard and will continue to support that workforce pipeline. So, it’s not about taking away, but adding to the energy conversation.”
– Cherié Kay LaRocca, vice chancellor for education, training and student success at Nunez Community College, which is an LSU and FUEL partner to expand the energy industry in Louisiana.
“This is not just a project. It’s a movement that will impact generations, pull families and communities out of poverty and meet the workforce needs of the local energy sector of today and tomorrow. It’s a strategic move.”
– Theron Williams, Shell Americas Learning Solutions Manager for the U.S. Gulf Coast, on community colleges and LSU’s FUEL team enabling closer alignment between education and industry.
As Louisiana’s international energy companies move toward lower-carbon processes and products driven by global demand, many of the skills and equipment needed to produce energy and manufacture chemicals in the state will remain the same or similar—at least for a while. That’s good news for Louisiana’s generational energy workforce. Yet, products and systems are evolving, and will continue to do so, with carbon capture and increased electrification, for example.
Shell Energy and Chemicals Park, Norco, already produces renewable fuels, lower carbon ethylene and circular chemicals from recycled plastics, while continuing to make traditional oil products. Two years ago, Shell invested $27.5 million in LSU to establish the now thriving Institute for Energy Innovation and support scientific discovery through the Our Lady of the Lake Health Interdisciplinary Science Building, currently under construction.
River Parishes Community College in Gonzales operates an 80-foot distillation unit on its campus to train students on traditional and new energy technologies. The $5 million investment was made possible in part by LSU's FUEL partner BASF, and the FUEL initiative will continue to drive investment in workforce development to secure Louisiana's energy future. Drone video footage is courtesy of River Parishes Community College.
“We must continue to sow seeds for our future,” Williams said. “Each of our industry partners sits on the continuum of energy—oil and gas, electrification and renewables, such as wind and solar—which presently meets the needs of our customers. As we prepare for our future today, we position Louisiana and our region for continued growth and prominence in the energy sector.”
Since August, River Parishes Community College in Gonzales operates an 80-foot distillation unit on its campus to train students, hands-on, how to work in the advanced manufacturing industry in various roles. This $5 million investment was made possible in part by FUEL partner BASF. The college also operates a methanol unit on its Reserve campus. Methanol can be produced from low-carbon sources and used as a clean-burning fuel for cars, trucks, buses and ships.
A big part of FUEL is about attracting and retaining top talent in Louisiana. Last month, River Parishes Community College hired Donovan Thompson, who holds a Ph.D. in organic chemistry and polymer chemistry from the University of Florida, as dean of their new Energy Sciences Division and as executive director of their Future Energy Workforce Consortium.
“Choosing to join the academic efforts to make Louisiana the next energy epicenter was a huge opportunity for me to foster change, growth and work in an expanding arena,” said Thompson, who came to education from industry, having worked for many years as a chemical engineer. “Energy education will be the blueprint for how Louisiana and its partners—industry, government and educational institutions—impact clean energy domestically, but with an international focus.”
River Parishes Community College student D’Marius Aikens from Donaldsonville, Louisiana, chose to study process technology at LSU’s FUEL partner RPCC because of the opportunity to do hands-on work on the Gonzales campus. “I have family members who work as operators in plants, and the job pays well.”
– Elsa Hahne/LSU
Further downriver, past New Orleans in Chalmette, FUEL partner Nunez Community College continues to invest in a new wind curriculum for turbine technicians with options ranging from certificates to technical diplomas to associate degrees. Nunez is also a partner with LSU and Greater New Orleans, Inc. on the $50-million H2theFuture project to advance hydrogen as an alternative fuel, and a pending $50-million Economic Development Administration Tech Hubs proposal for Gulf Louisiana Offshore Wind, or GLOW, enabled by the LSU-led team’s recent win in securing Tech Hubs designation for Louisiana.
“Simply put, we need resources to get new things up and running,” said Cherié Kay LaRocca, vice chancellor for education, training and student success at Nunez Community College. “FUEL will help with that, and allow us to work even closer with industry. That’s the name of the game when it comes to workforce development because we can’t theorize—we have to know what kind of employees they need.”
Nunez will also continue their long-standing petroleum technology program.
We’re diversifying; we’re not replacing,” LaRocca said. “We have several refineries in our backyard and will continue to support that workforce pipeline. So, it’s not about taking away, but adding to the energy conversation.”
All FUEL projects and investments will be industry-approved. By working closely with companies like Shell, ExxonMobil and Baker Hughes, and by strategically investing in energy education and research to advance its Scholarship First Agenda, LSU continues to lift Louisiana.
As a statewide university, LSU’s flagship campus in Baton Rouge, LSU Shreveport, LSU Alexandria and LSU Eunice all work together to advance both traditional and new energy across the state. While the four-year universities offer degrees in engineering and chemistry, LSUE, a two-year college, offers online programs that lead to industry-based certifications in solar, electrical, mechatronics and process technology, as well as in oil, natural gas, chemical and biofuel production operations. LSUE also has a hands-on, one-year chemical technician program, which the college is retooling for increased FUEL and industry alignment, while LSUA offers robust programs for pre-engineering.
“As we continue to build the footprint of FUEL and welcome new partners, the team will create unique funding opportunities to specific projects. Anyone can apply for these funds directed toward new capabilities, new expertise and new educational models that work with and for industry,” said Andrew Maas, interim executive director of FUEL and associate vice president for research in LSU’s Office of Innovation & Ecosystem Development. “Evolving industry challenges will be solved here, in Louisiana, as we work as a team with our partners across the state.”
FUEL is currently looking for a permanent executive director.