Wacker announces conditional job offer for students

Students who go through Chattanooga State’s Wacker Institute now have a better chance of securing a job with the plant, scheduled for completion in 2013.

“What they will be offered is an interview,” Wacker Human Resources Director Dr. Erika Burk said. “If they pass the interview they will get the job offer.”

That job offer is conditional and contingent on the completion of all classes with a grade point average of at least 3.0 as well as successfully passing a pre-employment physical, drug screen and background check prior to hire date, officials said.

Newly hired employees will also get a $3,000 signing bonus if they enroll in a qualifying engineering technology program of study by June 2011, August 2011 or January 2012.

The bonus will be paid during the first 60 days of employment.

If a student’s interview doesn’t result in a condition job offer, they have the opportunity to interview again at a later date.

Employees at Wacker’s plant will contribute to the production of hyper-pure crystalline polysillicon, which is used in making solar cells.

“(Hyper-pure crystalline polysillicon) is the purest man-made material on the planet,” Wacker Communications Manager Amanda Plecas said recently. “This is the essential ingredient that goes into solar wafers that go in solar panels. This product doesn’t go to the people who make solar panels, it goes to the people who make the wafers.”

Wacker Chemie AG announced Dec. 9, 2010, the start of construction for the company’s integrated polysilicon production site, which will have an annual capacity of 15,000 metric tons.

The new facility, to be based in Bradley County, Tenn., is scheduled for completion late 2013.
For Wacker, the new plant is the first of its kind outside of Europe, according to a news release from the company.

Chattanooga State’s Wacker Institute is a part of of the school's Engineering Technology Division, which has been providing training to Tennessee Valley residents for nearly 40 years, the institute’s director Dana Colquitt said.

The institute educates people who are interested in becoming chemical process technicians, chemical laboratory technicians, electrical and instrumentation technicians, mechanical technicians and technical operators.

Colquitt said the opportunity to have a job offer before finishing school is nearly priceless.

“You can’t quantify how valueable it is,” she said. “It’s almost unheard of. It’s hard to quantify how big of an opportunity it is.”

She also said that when the current students heard about the offer, their excitement was obvious.

Although economists say the recession officially ended two years ago and many in the Chattanooga area said local businesses have been relatively insulated from the economic downtown, the state’s unemployment rate remains near 10 percent.

“They will know at the beginning if they have a job waiting for them down the line,” Burk said. “In these uncertain times and in this job market, I think that is a pretty amazing offer.”

Burk and Colquitt also said that the offer represents Wacker’s dedication to the students and Wacker Institute program.

“It just signifies how much Wacker is invested in the program,” Colquitt said.