Wind maven, Kylah McNabb, wants to see Oklahoma's power

Her name started to appear on the state’s wind energy circuit in 2004.

She was coordinating sessions for the Oklahoma Wind Power Initiative, helping landowners understand how they, too, could profit from an expected growth in wind farms in the state. She was providing information to business to help them understand what they needed to participate in any wind project.

Kylah McNabb was spreading the word that wind could become the new oil for Oklahoma — long before T. Boone Pickens became a constant TV reminder about alternative energy. She traveled across the state coordinating Wind Power Initiative events.

McNabb now works for the state Commerce Department. With the nationwide push toward renewable energy, experts predict growth in wind farm development. Commerce Secretary Natalie Shirley said the industry could create 7,000 jobs in the next five years.

State colleges already offer courses that would allow people to specialize in operations. So Commerce teamed with the state Energy Office and CareerTech to hire McNabb and start building on its expertise.

"I want to see Oklahoma move from an energy colony to an energy power,” she said recently.

McNabb is hoping her efforts to help Commerce with business development and CareerTech with technician training will lead to intense job growth. And she promised, "There isn’t one part of Oklahoma that will miss out on the opportunities provided by our emerging wind industry.”