A Kenosha County committee is backing a new public-private partnership that would aim to make the area a player in the burgeoning wind power industry.

The County Board’s Legislative Committee recommended approval of a resolution Tuesday night, stating the board’s support for a venture between Gateway Technical College and Snap-on Inc. to create wind technician/torque certificate programs.

It also asks the Wisconsin Legislature to provide funding for the program and to support economic strategies to promote wind and other sustainable energy programs.

Supervisor Mark Molinaro Jr., the resolution’s sponsor, said the idea came out of a wind energy summit Snap-on hosted earlier this month at its Kenosha headquarters.

“I didn’t expect to hear what I heard, which is that there is a growing shortage of technicians in the wind industry,” Molinaro said, noting that these are often $100,000-per-year jobs.

Molinaro said the proposed wind partnership would resemble the Horizon Center for Transportation Technology partnership that Gateway and Snap-on currently share.

The resolution notes that 180,000 technicians will be needed to support the growth of the wind industry over the next 10 years.

Wind energy is currently the fastest growing segment of renewable energy production, with the potential to provide up to 30 percent of the nation’s energy needs in 10 years, the resolution states.

Molinaro said he believes the nation’s technical colleges are the best places to train technicians for this field. Snap-on is a natural partner for Gateway on this initiative, Molinaro said, because the tool manufacturer produces specialized torque wrenches for wind turbine bolts.

“In support of Snap-on, they are committed, their current CEO is committed, to sustainable energies,” Molinaro said.

Molinaro’s resolution also puts Kenosha County on the record in support of sustainable energies.

A provision states the county will evaluate ways to achieve 25 percent of its energy use from renewable sources by 2025, matching a criterion Wisconsin and other states have set for themselves.

The Legislative Committee passed Molinaro’s resolution unanimously. It will likely go before the County Board Feb. 3.

Meanwhile, the committee tabled a separate resolution relating to wind power Tuesday night.

Supervisor Dayvin Hallmon said he was pulling his measure in support of the Pickens Plan, because of ethical concerns about the business practices of its namesake, former Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens.

The Pickens Plan calls for spending $1 trillion to build wind turbine equipment from the Texas panhandle to North Dakota while calling on a greater emphasis on natural gas to power transportation systems.