Chattanooga State Community College will help train train chemical workers for Wacker Chemical’s new solar plant in Tennessee. The Germany company plans to hire 650 to 700 workers to make polysilicon for solar panels, reports the Chattanooga Times Free Press. Wacker’s total investment could exceed $1.5 billion.
Wacker donated $3 million to the college for the construction of a state-of-the-art chemical training plant for Wacker Institute.
About 4,300 people applied for the first 60 jobs filled, the company says.
The first employees, most of whom are lead chemical operators, will spend six months in Chattanooga and another six in Germany receiving training. When they come back to Southeast Tennessee, they’ll help train new Wacker employees, officials said.
Chemical operators will make about $50,000 a year.
. . . Jim Catanzaro, the college’s president, said while Chattanooga State handles training for many businesses, the partnership with Wacker is unusual. “This is far more aggressive,” he said.
Chattanooga State has hired five faculty members for the Wacker Institute. All have trained in Germany.
