138th Year... and still on the job!	Saturday May 06, 2006

It could be a decade from now, but demilitarization of Pueblo Chemical Depot may give Pueblo one of the best incentives it has ever had to attract high-paying jobs: the well-trained people to fill them.

That's why Bechtel officials met with officers of the Pueblo Economic Development Corp. recently to outline their hiring plans for the upcoming chemical weapons destruction project.

Marv Stein is chairman of the economic development agency this year. But he also has a strong interest in the project east of town because he is the longtime chairman of the depot's Reuse Authority, which puts parts of the base outside the weapons stockpile area to civilian use.

Stein said he's going to take every chance to make Puebloans aware of the opportunity that the weapons destruction program will bring to the community.

"It's about time people begin to realize the magnitude of this program," he said. Bechtel expects employment to peak at about 1,400 jobs when the facility is in full operation, and most of those will require strong operational skills and excellent work habits.

That won't be for at least another four years, while the plant is under construction, but it means there are young people in middle and high school now who could likely be working at the plant. Stein said he wants people to know what's going to be expected of them.

Besides requiring a good education, many of the jobs are governed by Army regulations, because the Army is Bechtel's customer.

The Defense Department is expected to give final approval to the specific design of the facility next fall and construction work should start in 2007.

Area crafts unions are gearing up for that, since nearly all the construction work will be done by union labor. Unions will hold a career fair May 15 at the Pueblo Convention Center to provide information on their apprenticeship programs. Construction unions not only will have to be ready to provide workers to Bechtel, but also for the expansion of the Comanche power generating plant.

Bechtel already has a small staff of management and design people in Pueblo, but expects to ramp up those numbers significantly next year. When the plant is in full operation, there will be about 400 administrative jobs and about 600 people working in operations, mostly employees of the Washington Demilitarization Co., one of Bechtel's partners in the project. There also will be several hundred working in maintenance, laboratory work and even a medical crew.

The opportunities are greater than any employer has offered in Pueblo for a generation or more, and could give many young people who left home for college or the military a chance to put their training to work in their hometown.

Bechtel officials expect that many of the operational jobs will be filled by veterans because of the strict regulations surrounding employment.

Company spokesman John Schlatter explained that not only is the Army strict about who will be allowed to handle the weapons, "we want the community to be assured that the people working there are the highest quality."

People with experience handling ammunition and dealing with toxic materials, who also are good at following precise instructions, will have the kind of background the company expects.

Experience in industrial safety, environmental regulations, quality control, hazardous waste management, compliance, security and emergency preparedness all are expected under Army rules, along with good decision-making skills and integrity.

People with drug or alcohol problems, poor work records, criminal records, serious medical problems and mental problems won't be accepted in the work force.

Stein said that because it will be few years before most of those jobs are filled, people have a chance now to start getting training and clean up any personal problems like drug and alcohol dependency, debt and other handicaps.

While the large work force at the chemical depot will be a major boost to Pueblo's economy, there also are concerns about will happen when the project ends.

Stein hopes that the work force built up for the chemical demilitarization project will draw other companies to Pueblo as the weapons program winds down, absorbing those workers.

That's one reason why he hopes the jobs will be filled by local people and not by itinerant workers who head to Pueblo when other weapons destruction programs end in the next couple of years.

"It gives us at PEDCo an opportunity when we talk to companies," he said. "This is just a win-win-win-win-win if we can get the message out."

Schlatter said that job inquiries are starting to come in now and that people are encouraged to file their resumes with Bechtel through its Web site.

ON THE NET:

Bechtel jobs in Pueblo: http://www.bechtel.com/careers click on Global Opportunities, U.S., Pueblo