A happy graduate of Free Range Poultry School receives his diploma from Arvind Nair (left) and Mineral County Commissioner Paul MacBeth. (STephen Tool photo)
The Free Range Poultry School offered by Green Energy Nevada LLC, graduated its first 17 students on May 17. The Hawthorne USO building hosted the graduation.
Shelley Hartmann, executive director of the Mineral County Economic Development Authority, expressed pleasure with the ceremony: “It was fun. We had a lot of family members there and our graduates were proud of their accomplishments since they had a lot of information to inhale over the past five weeks.”
Hartmann said she expected the graduates to start work in a few weeks. GEN is currently waiting for approval from the state fire marshal to begin construction and put the grads to work. “The fire marshal’s office is about 30 days behind,” Hartmann explained.
At the moment, GEN is unsure of when they can expect to start harvesting eggs. Hartmann said the company had the matter under discussion. She also mentioned the company planned on starting the next class on June 2.
“GEN is currently reviewing all the material from the first class to make sure the company is headed in the right direction. I don’t think they’re intending to produce eggs for a while; they’re going to be focusing on getting everything certified organic and raising the chicks,” Hartmann said.
Hartmann also said the insurance issues with the 6th Street school are on the brink of resolution. This could afford the company more training space as well as the opportunity to start night classes. Hartmann added that the Walker River Reservation in Schurz expressed an interest in hosting night classes.
GEN may experiment with trying to hatch their own eggs although a hatchery company offered to come to Hawthorne and provide the hatchlings. Hartmann said, “More suppliers are beating on GEN’s door wanting the product, so they’re anxious to get started.”
