News for immediate release
Contact: Sandy Barton, (307) 856-2028

(RIVERTON) – The curriculum for the Wind River Job Corps Center to be built in Riverton is now under development as architectural plans for the center are being finalized. An energy industry curriculum advisory committee met this month to review plans for the center, which is slated to go out for bid in the coming months.

The U.S. Department of Labor has designated the focus of the Wind River Job Corps to be centered on energy and renewable resources and, as such, the Riverton center will be the only Job Corps in the country to offer this vital curriculum.

The center’s specialties are planned to include three major cross industry training clusters including Energy and Transportation, Advanced Manufacturing and Construction plus Service occupations such as office administration, clinical medical assistants, culinary arts and hospitality.

Representatives from EnCana Oil and Gas, Conoco-Phillips, Marathon Oil and Devon Energy met with City of Riverton Public Works Director Bill Urbigkit and Fremont County BOCES Career and Technical Director Larry Christiansen and Executive Director Sandy Barton to go over the fine points of the plan as the city is now beginning the process to install utility infrastructure at the site.

The unique and regionally specific training to be offered here is expected to attract students not only from Fremont County and the Wind River Indian Reservation, but also from the state and entire Rocky Mountain region. The Wind River Job Corps will be Wyoming’s first-ever Job Corps center.

The nearly 126-acre Wind River Job Corps campus is to be located on the airport bench in NW Riverton. The campus will include 145,000 gross square feet of buildings, with each to feature energy efficient and “green” building techniques for long term sustainability.

Once the successful bidder has been chosen, construction of the Job Corps center will take about 14 to 18 months according to Thomas Dorman, the Regional Project Manager under contract with the Department of Labor’s National Job Corps Office. He said construction would begin three to four months after a general contractor is selected.

Riverton City Administrator Carter Napier said a $1.5 million infrastructure grant from the Wyoming Business Council is funding the extension of utilities to the site.

Napier said plans are moving forward for construction of a two million-gallon water storage tank near the site, which would not only serve the Job Corps, but the entire airport bench and Northwest portions of the city as well. Napier also said the city is seeking grant funding for the total reconstruction of Airport Road, which will be the primary street access to the site.