Sabey Data Centers: Workforce Development Partnership with Big Bend Community College

Overview

Located in eastern Washington State, Sabey operates multiple data centers in the heart of a rapidly growing data center landscape, which has led to an increased demand for trained IT and facility management professionals. Finding skilled-trades and facility workers has become more difficult due to an aging workforce and a lack of young professionals entering the field. These roles are essential for supporting a data center’s ability to uphold strict security measures while optimizing IT infrastructure, tracking power usage and cooling needs, and identifying opportunities to control energy use.

Big Bend Community College (BBCC), located in Moses Lake, Washington, partnered with Sabey and other data centers in the area to create a Data Center Training Program to prepare students for information technology jobs. Throughout the year-long program, students are paired with an industry partner and receive hands-on experience through mock interviews, job shadowing, resume building, and career research support. Each year the program works with an average of 35 students; around 45% go on to take full-time positions at a data center.

Through this program, Sabey has been able to grow its team while hiring local talent. By helping to shape the curriculum, Sabey can ensure that the students they hire from BBCC have the general background and knowledge that many other candidates lack. A graduate from Big Bend’s Data Center Training program now helps manage Sabey’s energy benchmarking and data tracking.

In 2019, the Data Center Training Program expanded with the launch of the Mission Critical Operations program. This new track helps prepare students for entry-level facility manager positions in fields like data centers, manufacturing, and food production. The current curriculum includes courses on some of the following energy efficiency management best practices:

Environmental and System Monitoring – Environmental parameters, monitoring platforms, and metering system best practices.
HVAC Infrastructure – Refrigerant-based, water-based, alternative cooling systems, and preventative maintenance.
Power and Power Sources – Fundamental concepts related to power sources, battery storage, and alternative sources of power.

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