Gordy Binek proudly gestures out his office window, pointing to the bare bones beginnings of a building in the distance.

"That's it," Bismarck State College's interim president said, looking out over the campus at the steel outline of what will soon be the National Energy Center of Excellence.

That's where students will go to learn trades and build careers in the energy industry; technicians, electricians, rig workers, some research, some science, all energy related. It's where private companies can go to find trained grads to fill jobs in an industry that's constantly strained from a worker shortage.

But it's also where there's some contention as to whether it should have used the Centers of Excellence grant, and whether or not future Centers of Excellence should follow different models.

The Centers of Excellence, an initiative introduced by Gov. John Hoeven, is a private sector and education partnership, where the state grants about $1 to every $2 from private investments for the upstart of approved projects. There are currently 11 Centers of Excellence, including the one at BSC.

BSCtook the idea and ran with it, and the governor supported the center's application, said Don Canton, director of communications in the governor's office. BSC began working with Basin Electric to create the National Center of Energy Excellence, to fill the need for a trained energy workforce, said Binek. Nearly $14 million was raised, including grant money from the Centers of Excellence initiative, private partnerships, and other state funds, he said.

"We want to be the premier provider for education and training for the energy industry,"he said. They want to make a name for themselves, regionally, nationally and ultimately, internationally, he said.

Training for the energy industry isn't something BSCis new to. The college has been training students in power plant technology since 1976, then started training in process plant technology in the early 1980s, said Dave Clark, executive vice president. In the late '90s, the school began delivering entirely Internet-based programs.

So when the Centers of Excellence initiative was presented, the college had a way to reach its goals.

"It helped give us the additional credibility as we promote these programs regionally, nationally and internationally,"Binek said.

Clark agreed, adding that the Centers of Excellence grant helped build the infrastructure of the program, and allowed the program to grow.

But some say that's not what the grants were intended for, which is why House Bill 1027 defines how money is spent and tightens the Centers of Excellence application process.

"They may have to do a little more work to show in their application that it's not just training a work force,"said Rep. Dan Ruby, R-Minot. "We have work force training."

The bill would not allow funding awards to exceed 10 percent to address work force needs, and 10 percent to address infrastructure needs.

House Majority Leader Rick Berg, R-Fargo, said it's about creating jobs, not for putting up buildings and paying for workforce training.

"The essence of the Centers of Excellence was a partnership between the private sectors and the university system to bring commercialization of a new technology to the market, where it's going to create jobs,"Berg said.

An example, he said, would be figuring out the technology to economically convert coal into fuel. From there would come high-paying jobs, and a need to train a workforce for those jobs.

Ultimately, the Centers of Excellence designation for BSC was inappropriate, he said.

"Although Ifully support what BSC is doing, and the direction and the need for energy growth, that was not the main intent of Centers of Excellence money,"he said.

Time will tell. Ruby said a subcommittee may still tinker with the percentage numbers, and the entire, 47-section bill will most likely go through a rigorous debate process.

So far, Gov. John Hoeven's office, the Bismarck-Mandan Chamber of Commerce, the Department of Commerce and several others in education support continued flexibility of the program.

"This economy is very strong. This energy development has been a piece of that, and it's going to grow for the future,"Clark said. "We think that is a positive thing, and that's why we support the flexibility."

(Reach reporter Crystal Reid at 250-8261 or at crystal.reid@;bismarcktribune.com.)