GreenBuild has changed lives

Everett Antoine III said he was stuck in a rut.

The young Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation resident had no job and lacked skills. He wasn't sure where his life was taking him.

Then he got a call from Barb Stiffarm, the executive director of Opportunity Link Inc. A new program, Project GreenBuild, was going to rehabilitate the building where the North Central Montana Transit system was headquartered.

When Opportunity Link bought the building, it had been vacant for five years. The building was jammed with junk, it was poorly insulated, and Stiffarm said, there were mice running through it.

Slowly, the transit system began to improve the building, but utility bills often topped $1,600 per month, said Tom Tucker, Opportunity Link's financial officer.

S o , S t i f fa rm s a i d, Pro j e c t GreenBuild was created to train eight men in the construction trade as they rehabilitated the building.

But they would also learn the basics of green construction — how to construct environmentally friendly buildings.

Antoine jumped at the opportunity. "I learned there were people out there willing to help," he said.

"I learned this business from two of the best," he said of Kirk Hammerquist, the director of the project, and Robert Kittson, the assistant.

Thursday, the eight students took part in a completion ceremony, something of a graduation.

The ceremony was part of an open house, during which representatives of Opportunity Link and the transit system explained how they went about rehabilitating the building.

The building looks better, and the energy costs are projected to plummet, Tucker said.

But , St i f farm said, the important part is that eight men now have skills that will help them obtain quality, high-paying jobs.

Antoine said he now hopes to have a career in construction.

Steve Eagle Feathers, a Montana State University- Northern engineering student, may switch his major as a result of his summer job with Project GreenBuild.

"I was getting bored with engineering," he said. "And this is a lot more hands-on.

"It was the best job I ever had," he said.

People from all backgrounds worked hard in the program, learned from each other, and had a good time, he said.

Public officials were eager to p r a i s e t h e p r o g r am a t Thursday's ceremonies.

Pat Wises, special assistant to Gov. Brian Schweitzer, lauded Opportunity Link and other goups involved with the program for working together.

"Havre has a reputation for working together for economic development," she said.

For the most part, economic development efforts seem to be concentrated on "the boot," she said, the Kalispell, Helena, Missoula, Bozeman and Billings corridor.

"Governor Schweitzer wants to see that extended to the entire state," she said. "Havre is leading the way."