Offshore wind training center coming to Salisbury

SALISBURY, Md. – A landmark deal was announced in Salisbury on Thursday. An international company is partnering with a local business to get in on the renewable energy industry.

“They will open their safety training facility for North America right here in Salisbury, Maryland,” says Jake Day, the mayor of Salisbury.

ARCON, a Salisbury welding company, is partnering with the United Kingdom’s Advanced Industrial Solutions (AIS) to create an offshore wind training center on the Eastern Shore.

“It’s going to be a fantastic opportunity for the region for not just the renewables but for the economy in general,” says Geoff Croft, the group business development manager for renewables with AIS Training.

The center will help train the almost 40,000 people pedicted to work on offshore wind turbines across the country. “So we’ll be teaching technicians how to survive in emergencies, in open waters. We’ll also be looking at working high. So we’ll also be teaching technicians safety procedures working at heights,” says Croft.

ARCON will likely expand its current facilities in the Northwood Industrial Park to accommodate the center but the impact doesn’t stop there.

“Thousands of people traveling through our city every year, for training. Whether it’s the hotel that they stay in, the restaurants they eat in, or the rental car they purchase. You name it. All of those things have a positive outside dollars in, which is the whole goal of economic development,” says Day.

Officials say this new training center is independent from the offshore wind project in Ocean City, that has been delayed. They also say this could have an even larger impact for the local economy as the offshore wind industry continues to grow. The Salisbury training center should be up and running in April of 2020. Officials add that there will likely be employment opportunities on a variety of skill levels for jobs related to the training center.