M-WERC: creates talent developmenthub as EPC sector grows in MilwaukeeAs M7 looks to attract talent, M-WERC delivers

Thursday, October 17, 2019Contact: Joshua Morby, (414) 791-9120 joshmorby@jramadvisers.com

MILWAUKEE – On the heels of the Midwest Energy Research Consortium’s (M-WERC) recent announcement of a $1.67 Million grant from the EDA, M-WERC gave additional insight into what this means for Milwaukee at today’s member meeting.
“Our efforts to position M-WERC at at the intersection of the Energy, Power & Controls (EPC) industry are taking shape,” said M-WERC Executive Director Dan Ebert.
Meeting attendees also heard from the M7s Pat O’Brien about their efforts to attract talent and saw first hand how M-WERC’s vision of positioning the region as the hub for training existing and new workers for the energy, power and control sector is happening.
“The M7 has really taken a leadership role with their initiative. We’re excited to be able to play a part with our focus on the energy power and control sector and through our collaborations with workforce agencies like Employ Milwaukee and our industry focused accelerator program WERCBench Labs.”
“We heard first hand from our region’s employers about their need for workers. M-WERC responded with programs that get those employers the skilled workers they need. We already have commitments from our members to hire the first 100 graduates as soon as we can get them trained.”
Representatives from all seven companies selected for this years WERCBench Labs accelerator program were also in attendance. They included:

  • Accelerate Wind LLC, of Chicago, a commercial rooftop wind installation with patented drive train.
  • Agricycle, of Milwaukee, fruit and food solar dehydrators.
  • CLOCworks, of Madison, machine learning software to manage building profiles for HVAC systems.
  • ELEKTRIFI, of Madison, disaster relief tech platform to manage grids in homes and buildings.
  • MESODYNE, of Chicago, ultra-high energy density, multi-fuel, silent, compact power generator.
  • OMEGA GRID, of Chicago, financial market software system that determines the most efficient mix of generation and loads on the grid.
  • STEAM ENERGY LABS, of Boulder, Colorado, smart thermostats to use to moderate hot water heaters for storage.