Prosperity Awaits For Those Who Prepare, Train And Are Qualified! Will You Be Ready For The Opportunity?
Opinion piece: Nancy McReady
ATTENTION high school graduates & area residents!
If you like to hunt, fish, canoe, camp, bike, snowmobile, and ATV, and would like to stay in northeastern Minnesota! Prepare yourself for hundreds of good paying jobs to afford doing these activities! For Twin Metals, they are talking about 650 mining jobs and 1300 indirect mining jobs. The mine will require three years of constructions with millions of man hours with good pay.
For PolyMet, 360 mining jobs that will create more than 600 indirect jobs. Again, there will be 1 million man hours for construction.
People question if these jobs will be filled by local people. Absolutely, if they have the job qualifications. That's why we encourage high school graduates who want to remain in this area to consider going to one of the many vocational schools in Virginia, Eveleth, Hibbing and Grand Rapids and be educated in the trades skills needed for these mining jobs - Equipment operators, millwright mechanics, electricians, welders, plumbers, hydraulics, etc. The Industrial Technology courses cover them all and more. A two-year degree will get you a good paying job at area mines, either taconite mines now where many baby boomers are retiring, or at the copper/nickel mines to come.
Of course new people will move to the area for these good paying jobs with good benefits. It's what our area needs, an influx of new people. Hopefully they will be young families with children for our schools.
People question the 20-year short term gain of these good paying jobs. They need to know that the permitting to mine is for a 20-year period and then renewed for another 20 years. By some accounts, there are over 100 years of minerals in the Duluth Complex.
Get your qualifications for these mining jobs now!