By: Jennette Barnes
Source: http://www.boston.com
Category: Small Business Grant
The Ocean Campus Center, an environmental trade school originally planned for Scituate but rebuffed by the town, has found open arms in Marshfield, where a possible land grant could seal the deal.
Verrochi Realty Trust, which owns the Enterprise Park business park in Marshfield, is considering donating land to the school. That carrot has made Marshfield the focus of the school’s search for a new location, according to Jeffrey Rosen, chairman of the nonprofit Marine and Environmental Education Alliance formed to establish the school. The campus would need about 3 acres, he said.
Massasoit Community College would oversee the academics, granting associate’s degrees and certificates in things like alternative energy technology, marine electronics, and water treatment and monitoring, Rosen said.
The concept has support from the Marshfield Planning Board, which voted unanimously to endorse it on Monday after Rosen presented the details.
“I think it’s fabulous,’’ said Karen Horne, chairwoman of the Planning Board, shortly before the vote. The vote expressed the board’s sentiments but did not address a site plan, which has not yet been submitted.
State Representative James M. Cantwell, a Marshfield Democrat, gave a statement of support at the meeting. An affirmative vote from the Planning Board would put the project “on the fast track,’’ he said.
The Ocean Campus Center began looking for a new location after falling out of favor in Scituate. Although Scituate had been deeply involved in the idea for some time, the town rejected a bid proposal for the school in February, saying the organization did not meet some requirements in the request for proposals. Among those were a detailed development schedule and demonstrated experience with other projects.
A group of Scituate residents had publicly opposed the school since January, but the Scituate town administrator denied that their objections affected the town’s response to the bid.
Rosen’s group went looking for a new host, and spoke with people from Hull, Marshfield, Quincy, Weymouth, and towns on the North Shore. But he said in an e-mail that the group is now focusing on Marshfield due to the possible land grant and “the advanced nature of the options,’’ which include two locations in the business park.
According to William Last Jr., director of government affairs for Verrochi Realty Trust, the company is considering donating one of two pieces of land - one near the Boys and Girls Club and another, more private spot near a cul de sac.
How Marshfield residents and other town officials will respond to the project remains to be seen, but the commercial location could preclude concerns about the school affecting a park or residential neighborhood.
John Hall, chairman of the Board of Selectmen, said the project is a great idea and a nice fit for Marshfield culturally, considering the town’s fishing fleet and maritime orientation. He said he does not anticipate any problems with the site because much of the business park is already cleared and developed, with drainage installed.
But Hall said the school would not help Marshfield economically, because it would not pay real estate taxes or generate much traffic for surrounding businesses.
In Rosen’s pitch to the Planning Board, however, he said the school would fill a gap in career training at the certificate and associate’s levels and take advantage of an emerging market in environmental technology. South Shore communities send many of their high school graduates to four-year colleges, he said, but the remaining students could train for careers in laboratories, boat building, environmental cleanup, “green’’ construction, and more.
Rosen, a scientist with Tetra Tech who spends much of his time working on water quality, said his clients have trouble finding technicians at a time when increased government requirements for water-quality testing are raising demand for their work. A constellation of jobs in the industry includes maintaining scientific instruments and installing new electronics on boats, he said.
Rosen said graduates of the Ocean Campus Center would be qualified for jobs that pay between $40,000 and $60,000. Potential employers would include Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the environmental cleanup company Clean Harbors, he said.
In addition to training workers, the school would be a place to hold small conferences and where the industry could confer with academia about the kinds of training employees need, he said. The facility would be a “green’’ building, he said, and hands-on learning about the building’s systems would be part of the curriculum. It would be solar heated and cooled and capture rain water for irrigation.
Rosen said the Ocean Campus Center could also host programs for K-12 students and serve as a location for classes run by the harbormaster. The building is expected to have a boat-building lab, computer lab, classrooms, and meeting space.
Source: http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1275518325381725299#editor/target=post;postID=7835482347606140657
Source: http://www.boston.com
Category: Small Business Grant
The Ocean Campus Center, an environmental trade school originally planned for Scituate but rebuffed by the town, has found open arms in Marshfield, where a possible land grant could seal the deal.
Verrochi Realty Trust, which owns the Enterprise Park business park in Marshfield, is considering donating land to the school. That carrot has made Marshfield the focus of the school’s search for a new location, according to Jeffrey Rosen, chairman of the nonprofit Marine and Environmental Education Alliance formed to establish the school. The campus would need about 3 acres, he said.
Massasoit Community College would oversee the academics, granting associate’s degrees and certificates in things like alternative energy technology, marine electronics, and water treatment and monitoring, Rosen said.
The concept has support from the Marshfield Planning Board, which voted unanimously to endorse it on Monday after Rosen presented the details.
“I think it’s fabulous,’’ said Karen Horne, chairwoman of the Planning Board, shortly before the vote. The vote expressed the board’s sentiments but did not address a site plan, which has not yet been submitted.
State Representative James M. Cantwell, a Marshfield Democrat, gave a statement of support at the meeting. An affirmative vote from the Planning Board would put the project “on the fast track,’’ he said.
The Ocean Campus Center began looking for a new location after falling out of favor in Scituate. Although Scituate had been deeply involved in the idea for some time, the town rejected a bid proposal for the school in February, saying the organization did not meet some requirements in the request for proposals. Among those were a detailed development schedule and demonstrated experience with other projects.
A group of Scituate residents had publicly opposed the school since January, but the Scituate town administrator denied that their objections affected the town’s response to the bid.
Rosen’s group went looking for a new host, and spoke with people from Hull, Marshfield, Quincy, Weymouth, and towns on the North Shore. But he said in an e-mail that the group is now focusing on Marshfield due to the possible land grant and “the advanced nature of the options,’’ which include two locations in the business park.
According to William Last Jr., director of government affairs for Verrochi Realty Trust, the company is considering donating one of two pieces of land - one near the Boys and Girls Club and another, more private spot near a cul de sac.
How Marshfield residents and other town officials will respond to the project remains to be seen, but the commercial location could preclude concerns about the school affecting a park or residential neighborhood.
John Hall, chairman of the Board of Selectmen, said the project is a great idea and a nice fit for Marshfield culturally, considering the town’s fishing fleet and maritime orientation. He said he does not anticipate any problems with the site because much of the business park is already cleared and developed, with drainage installed.
But Hall said the school would not help Marshfield economically, because it would not pay real estate taxes or generate much traffic for surrounding businesses.
In Rosen’s pitch to the Planning Board, however, he said the school would fill a gap in career training at the certificate and associate’s levels and take advantage of an emerging market in environmental technology. South Shore communities send many of their high school graduates to four-year colleges, he said, but the remaining students could train for careers in laboratories, boat building, environmental cleanup, “green’’ construction, and more.
Rosen, a scientist with Tetra Tech who spends much of his time working on water quality, said his clients have trouble finding technicians at a time when increased government requirements for water-quality testing are raising demand for their work. A constellation of jobs in the industry includes maintaining scientific instruments and installing new electronics on boats, he said.
Rosen said graduates of the Ocean Campus Center would be qualified for jobs that pay between $40,000 and $60,000. Potential employers would include Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the environmental cleanup company Clean Harbors, he said.
In addition to training workers, the school would be a place to hold small conferences and where the industry could confer with academia about the kinds of training employees need, he said. The facility would be a “green’’ building, he said, and hands-on learning about the building’s systems would be part of the curriculum. It would be solar heated and cooled and capture rain water for irrigation.
Rosen said the Ocean Campus Center could also host programs for K-12 students and serve as a location for classes run by the harbormaster. The building is expected to have a boat-building lab, computer lab, classrooms, and meeting space.
Source: http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1275518325381725299#editor/target=post;postID=7835482347606140657
