Tester, Baucus secure $100,000 for Miles Community College

Money would help train workers in producing renewable energy

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – The influential Senate Appropriations Committee has approved $100,000 to help fund a groundbreaking effort underway at Miles Community College, Senators Jon Tester and Max Baucus announced today.

The funding is part of $2 million secured for Montana by Tester, a member of the Appropriations Committee, and Senator Max Baucus in the Senate Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Appropriations Bill.

Tester and Baucus included in the measure $100,000 to create jobs and boost the state’s economy by funding Miles Community College’s Bioenergy Education Action for Montana (BEAM) project.  The project will help Montanans learn how to produce oilseed biodiesel and ethanol in eastern Montana.

“We are thrilled the funding will advance our new biofuels program,” said Miles Community College President Stefani Hicswa.  “I appreciate the work that Senators Tester and Baucus have done to secure the funds for Miles Community College, which will directly benefit ag producers in eastern Montana.”

“This is a smart investment that will help create jobs in Montana by making our state a leader in renewable energy,” said Tester, a third-generation family farmer.  “This funding will also help prepare the next generation of workers to work in the field of renewable energy. This is exactly the kind of project I’m proud to support and I’ll vote for it every step of the way.”

“This funding is an investment in the future of Montana,” said Baucus, chairman of the powerful Senate Finance Committee.  “It will prepare Montanans to succeed at good-paying jobs of the future and help us meet the growing need for trained workers in the renewable energy field.”

The Labor, Health and Human Services, Education Appropriations Bill now goes to the full Senate for approval.  A similar measure has already passed the U.S. House of Representatives.