\u201cThere\u2019s this fine calibration required where employers need the workers for the projects, they can\u2019t start training the workers when they need them,\u201d Jones said. \u201cBut workers can\u2019t train and then wait around.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Corban Dillon, 41, is a student in Imperial Valley College\u2019s Lithium Industry Force Training program, which prepares students to work in future lithium-related jobs.<\/p>\n
(Erin Rode \/ For the Hechinger Report)<\/p>\n
In Imperial County, an agricultural area that has among the highest poverty and unemployment rates in the state, the stakes are particularly high. In March, its unemployment rate was 16.9%<\/a>, more than triple that of neighboring counties.<\/p>\n \u201cThe mentality that we see today here is: If we want a future, we need to leave the valley. If we want a good job, we need to leave the valley,\u201d said Priscilla Lopez, the county\u2019s director of workforce and economic development. \u201cBut wouldn\u2019t it be great to have these opportunities so that your kids can see the opportunities here?\u201d<\/p>\n When three companies began seriously eyeing the region for its lithium reserves around a decade ago, attention quickly turned to jobs. The region touted itself as \u201cLithium Valley,\u201d and Berkshire Hathaway Energy Renewables announced<\/a> it could launch commercial extraction operations by 2026.<\/p>\n The reality has been different. BHE Renewables only just completed construction on its demonstration plant, Christina Fleming, senior vice president of mineral development, wrote in an email.<\/p>\n Controlled Thermal Resources, another company active in the region, is in the \u201cmoney-raising\u201d stage, according to Jim Turner, the company\u2019s president. Lithium extraction jobs are at least about two years away, he said.<\/p>\n Lithium batteries are the most common way to store wind and solar energy and power electric vehicles. An estimated 18 million metric tons<\/a> of lithium carbonate is embedded in the hot brine deep beneath the Salton Sea, enough to power 375 million electric car batteries.<\/p>\n Calls for more education opportunities in Imperial Valley intensified as news of a potential lithium boom spread. The area\u2019s two main higher education institutions \u2014 Imperial Valley College and a San Diego State satellite campus \u2014 acted fast.<\/p>\n San Diego State\u2019s new Sciences and Engineering Laboratories in Brawley, Calif., near a geothermal field some hope will become a major source of lithium. <\/p>\n (Erin Rode \/ For the Hechinger Report)<\/p>\n San Diego State used $80 million in state funding to build a new STEM campus prioritizing science, technology, engineering and math.<\/p>\n New undergraduate degree programs in electrical engineering and chemistry will open to students to support local industry needs in the geothermal and lithium sectors, said John McMillan, the university\u2019s assistant vice president of economic development.<\/p>\n Imperial Valley College received funding from the U.S. Department of Energy for its Lithium Industry Force Training program. The program\u2019s three certificates \u2014 plant operator, chemical lab technician and instrumentation technician \u2014 can each be completed in two semesters, and courses include chemistry, math, hazmat training, water treatment plant operation and plant operation.<\/p>\n The community college has touted the certificate programs as a fast track into the lithium industry. \u201cAre you ready to launch your career in the booming lithium industry? Imperial Valley College\u2019s new chemical lab technician certificate program is your ticket in,\u201d states a voice-over<\/a> in a 2024 promotional video for one of the certificate programs.<\/p>\n And Imperial Valley residents, hungry for stable jobs close to home, have responded.<\/p>\n For George Prieto, the plant operator certificate is his first foray into higher education. Before a recent class, he showed off his newly issued badge for an internship at the local water and power utility. Prieto, 48, previously worked in retail merchandising and deejays on the weekends.<\/p>\n Mounds of dirt and areas of bubbling hot water appear in 2019 near a geothermal power plant owned by EnergySource Minerals.<\/p>\n (Carolyn Cole\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n \u201cUsually, when they have these jobs, people from all over the world come; this gives us a chance with this being our backyard,\u201d Prieto said. \u201cWe don\u2019t have to go and sacrifice and go somewhere else\u201d for a job.<\/p>\n Industry representatives and the county blame the delayed timelines on a 2024 lawsuit by environmental groups. Changing politics and market forces are also at play. The lawsuit alleges Imperial County officials underestimated future environmental impacts \u2014 such as potential water pollution and health effects \u2014 of a project proposed by Controlled Thermal Resources.<\/p>\n The court rejected the legal challenge<\/a> last year, and the environmental justice groups have appealed. The Trump administration also eliminated electric vehicle incentives<\/a> last year, and both industry and the federal government have turned more attention to lithium projects in other states, including Arkansas and Nevada.<\/p>\n Near the Salton Sea, one of the three main companies working on lithium recently shifted some of its attention to data centers<\/a>.<\/p>\n In late 2024, a member of the California Energy Commission warned Imperial County residents<\/a> that \u201cthe Lithium Valley is not a sure thing,\u201d citing the trend of federal funding from the Department of Energy going toward other states.<\/p>\n In August last year, San Diego State President Adela de la Torre was more blunt<\/a>, writing in a commentary piece that \u201cunless progress in Lithium Valley accelerates rapidly, these students will graduate into an empty local job market.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe timing thing has been something that\u2019s out of our control,\u201d San Diego State\u2019s McMillan said in an interview. But the university can guarantee, he said, that students \u201cwill have a quality engineering and chemistry education that can make them effective in many of the industries out here.\u201d<\/p>\n Imperial Valley College will soon graduate its third year of industry-trained students.<\/p>\n \u201cThe original plan was to time all of these programs sequential to once the industry comes up to speed,\u201d said Lennor Johnson, who leads the Imperial Community College District. By now, he said, \u201cwe thought we would be 100% in full operation with Lithium Valley.\u201d<\/p>\n A total of 173 students have enrolled in certification programs since fall 2023; 42 have completed their certificates and 57 are currently enrolled. As of fall 2025, a total of 16 students had found jobs directly related to their certificates, Johnson said.<\/p>\n Imperial Valley College has reduced the number of students in each cohort and will not offer two of the certificates next year. The plan is to bring those programs back in the 2027-28 academic year, if that timing lines up with the industry\u2019s projections on jobs.<\/p>\n Prieto is hopeful that his certificate will be transferable to other industries, while Dillon believes the huge amount of lithium under Imperial County means the industry will come to full fruition eventually. In April, he started a full-time job with a mining company, with good pay, benefits, room and board while on-site, and a company car.<\/p>\n There\u2019s just one catch: The job isn\u2019t in Imperial County.<\/p>\n Rode writes for the Hechinger Report<\/a>, which produced this article<\/a> and is a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Imperial Valley College launched a program training students to become plant operators and technicians in the emerging…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":362613,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8,39473,31744,1804,147336,12925,147334,4194,147338,112300,147335,147337,4576,7154,225,4574],"class_list":["post-362612","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-certificate","tag-chemistry","tag-company","tag-george-prieto","tag-imperial-county","tag-imperial-valley-college","tag-job","tag-lithium-industry","tag-lithium-valley","tag-local-industry","tag-plant-operator","tag-program","tag-solar-energy","tag-state","tag-student"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362612","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=362612"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362612\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/362613"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=362612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=362612"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=362612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1781605509_680_.jpeg\")
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