Jennifer Menard

Workshop: Better Together: Offshore Wind Training Partnership Case Studies

Jennifer Menard, Vice President of Economic and Business Development, oversees the National Offshore Wind Institute (NOWI), a state-of-the-art industry training and educational center, partnered with Maersk Training. The NOWI, located in the city of New Bedford, is a national one-stop location with a diverse training portfolio that meets the needs of the offshore wind industry and its related certifications and competencies as well as hosts proprietary and customized training opportunities. The NOWI offers Global Wind Organisation (GWO) trainings including Basic Safety Training, Basic Technical Training with Installation, EFA, ART, Slinger Signaler, Blade Repair, and the related GWO refreshers. The NOWI offers specialized trainings such as HUET, professional development and career and technical trainings through its Bridges to Offshore Wind program, and customized private sector training.

Jennifer developed programs focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion such as the NOWI Speaker Series: Equity in Offshore Wind; and just completed Wind Works: an Access to Equity program partnering with community-based organizations to inform middle and high school students of the educational and career pathways into offshore wind.

Jennifer has been a leader in economic and business development for over twenty years, first serving as the regional point of contact for fourteen years, managing industry cluster development, business recruitment, and a focus on the connections to higher education. Jennifer joined Bristol when the NOWI was just a concept and has assembled a team, with its partner Maersk Training, to bring it to reality.

Jennifer’s background in offshore wind goes back to 2008, managing U.S. delegations visiting offshore wind projects in Europe to best understand the opportunities for Massachusetts and the U.S. Jennifer was a part of the team that released the 2018 Massachusetts Offshore Wind Workforce Assessment, funded by the MA Clean Energy Center, identifying critical workforce development and employment data for the offshore wind industry, spurring the development and mission of the NOWI.