Regional Workforce Initiative

NETL’s Regional Workforce Initiative (RWFI) creates a platform for stakeholders to engage with the Laboratory, industry partners and other federal agencies and advance collaborative workforce development efforts.

Projects undertaken by the RWFI are aligned with the priorities of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Hydrocarbons and Geothermal Energy Office (HGEO) to support the development and sustainability of a domestic workforce that will ensure U.S. leadership in the production of affordable, reliable and secure energy for the American people.

Through its efforts, the RWFI addresses workforce needs to commercialize and deploy DOE and NETL technologies. Collaborating with industry, employers, workforce boards and training providers, the RWFI integrates workforce considerations into DOE energy technology development by linking research programs and demonstration projects to real-world labor demand.

This strategy supports a skilled, job-ready workforce that strengthens America’s energy sector, expands U.S. energy dominance, maximizes domestic energy production and translates DOE and NETL research investments into durable workforce, job and economic development opportunities for the Appalachian region and the nation.

Below are links to various RWFI and related resources:

RWFI Workforce and Economic Development

Energy and advanced manufacturing support millions of direct and indirect jobs across the U.S. economy, and a reliable, skilled workforce is essential to maintaining domestic manufacturing capacity, secure energy supply chains and long-term economic growth. Through coordination with local, state and federal partners, as well as employers and training providers, the RWFI identifies critical skills and training gaps across energy production, power generation, industrial operations and advanced manufacturing occupations.

American energy is needed to power prosperity, freedom and human flourishing. To ensure these goals are met, NETL is launching four Centers of Excellence. The four centers and their areas of focus are:

Coal — Deliver integrated research and technology solutions that advance and expand the efficient use of coal resources in alignment with DOE priorities.
Oil and Gas — Enable secure, efficient and low-impact oil and gas systems through integrated research aligned with DOE priorities and industrial needs.
Geothermal — Accelerate geothermal energy development through integrated research, technology innovation and strategic partnerships.
Critical Minerals — Advance secure and resilient critical minerals supply chains through integrated research and technology development.

In support of each Center of Excellence, the RWFI leverages federal workforce development activities to strengthen regional workforce infrastructure.

In addition, the RWFI connects economic development stakeholders with NETL, DOE and other federal agencies to support industry-driven economic development efforts focused on expanding U.S. energy production, manufacturing capacity and technology deployment.

Key Activities of the RWFI

One of the key activities of the RWFI involves linking industry and workforce stakeholders with federal agencies and with each other to share related projects and missions. The RWFI does this by hosting webinars on workforce-related topics and conducting in-person NETL lab tours and meetings with NETL researchers and representatives from partnership groups. Other RWFI activities include:

Hosting stakeholder meetings at NETL sites in Albany, Oregon; Morgantown, West Virginia; and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Conducting webinars on specific topics in energy and advanced manufacturing workforce and economic development and background briefings on research and innovation priorities
Partnering with regional workforce stakeholders on funding opportunities
Identifying “occupational crosswalks” that map DOE technologies to workforce and job analytics to clarify roles and training needs
Encouraging collaboration and coordination among federal, national and regional workforce initiatives and industry partners
Publishing online tools that explore and identify training opportunities to connect job seekers, training providers and employers
Engaging with more than 800 regional and national stakeholders from more than 400 institutions and organizations (academia, industry, government and non-government entities)
Attracting more than 2,000 participants to participate in the NETL RWFI Energy 101 Webinar series
Catalyzing more than $2.5M of investment in energy workforce and economic development activities

Energy Workforce and Jobs Resources

RWFI has created resources and tools to help stakeholders learn about available energy technologies. This useful data and information can assist stakeholders in executing planning and research activities addressing broad job and career opportunities within the energy industry. Check out these tools and resources:

DOE Critical Minerals and Materials (CMM) Program — The program builds reliable, resilient, affordable and secure domestic CMM supply chains that support energy, manufacturing and transportation economies while promoting solutions to meet current and future needs.
21st Century Energy Workforce Advisory Board — The board was established to develop a strategy to support current and future energy-sector labor needs, strengthen DOE’s workforce programs and expand energy jobs and training opportunities for students, underrepresented workers and displaced energy workers.
Critical Minerals Career Map — The map is a framework for understanding the workforce needed to support domestic CMM production and manufacturing.
Advanced Manufacturing Career Map — This interactive tool provides salary and other information for employment opportunities across five key job categories and a variety of skill levels.
U.S. Energy and Employment Report (USEER) — USEER provides a comprehensive overview of the energy labor market.