Green apprenticeship comes full circle

At 30, Robert Loper had a wife and three children - with more on the way. He and his wife, Hillary, built their own home themselves on property near Sandpoint "before prices spiked," he said. They built an energy-efficient, "green" home that used solar energy and was off the grid.

What he didn't have at that time was a job that was paying the bills - even after going to school to become a chef.

"I was a certified chef when I moved up here (from Utah), but there weren't any good chef jobs. They were mostly seasonal," he said.

He was working as a chef/dietary manager in a nursing home when a conversation with a co-worker changed his life.

"She could tell I wasn't very happy and wanted to know if I was interested in becoming an electrician," Loper said.

His co-worker told him about the apprenticeship program offered through the Workforce Training Center at North Idaho College.

"The workforce training program is exactly for people like that - someone who's working already, but wants to train for another position; who already has a skill set, but wants to learn something different," Loper said.

In 2004, he went back to school. NIC offers approved state certified apprenticeship programs for electrical, plumbing and HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning). Typically, apprentices work 40-hour weeks while attending weekend classes in their chosen field. Most apprenticeship programs last four years.

"It takes some devotion," Loper said.

Living over an hour from NIC's Coeur d'Alene campus, Loper was able to take classes every other Saturday during the school year.

The hands-on experience meshed with an education was invaluable.

"It gives you a more comprehensive education if you're doing your trade while you go to school. It helps you ask the right questions - the pertinent questions," he said.

During the apprenticeship, Loper worked for Sherman Swink, owner of SCS Electric in Sandpoint. This was Swink's first time working with the apprentice program, but he said he would do it again. He said the program is vital for fields like his.

"We need these apprenticeship programs. It's necessary for the trade," Swink said. "It gives them the background to go further. Without that background, you get people who are out of place."

Loper has since been able to channel his passion for green energy to his new career by starting his own business called Current Electric. Now, he helps people transition their homes from regular electric power to solar, wind and hydro power. He said his own transition to off the grid - without much help - had been somewhat "traumatic."

"There were a lot of lifestyle changes," he said.

His expertise can make moving off the grid easier for people. Armed with experience and, now, the education, Loper helps ensure green-minded people don't make the same mistakes he did when he built his green home. The money is nice, he said, but what is important to him is that he does something that makes a difference. In his spare time, he uses donated parts to set up solar systems for a widow and a disabled veteran.

He now mentors his own apprentice. The program has come full circle.

"He just started. He's in his 50s. He's had a lot of jobs - manual labor-type jobs. He's a very hard worker with a wide knowledge base," Loper said. "That makes him very valuable to me. When you use solar, hydro, wind, all these disciplines, you end up dealing with different scenarios. He already has a lot of the skills already."

NIC's apprenticeship classes for electricians, plumbers and HVAC technicians begin Sept. 11. Some are now available online. Employment in the trade is not required to begin the class. For more information, contact the Workforce Training Center in Post Falls at (208) 769-7735 or go to www.nic.edu/apprenticeship.

Loper's business, Current Electric, can be reached at (208) 946-1819.