Electric Car Consortium Gets Worker Retraining Contract

A Burbank consortium formed to promote the production of electric cars has won a $1.8-million state contract to train workers to shift aerospace and defense companies into the production of advanced transportation projects, such as electric vehicles, consortium officials said.

The contract from the state Employment Training Panel will be used to train up to 335 workers currently employed by aerospace or defense firms in the nature of the electric car market, system design concepts and problem-solving in the production of electric cars, among other skills.

The contract was given to CALSTART, a nonprofit consortium formed by more than 40 large corporations and public agencies, but the 13-month training program will be administered by Amerigon Inc., an electric car manufacturing firm and member of the consortium.

The contract runs until October, 1993.

“The people trained in this program will form the core of the highly skilled and growing work force which will help California capture a major share of this new industry,” said Amerigon President Lon Bell.

The state contract is funded by the employment training tax that employers pay as part of their contribution to state unemployment insurance.