(BOSTON, MA) – Vineyard Offshore today announced that Marlena Fitzpatrick has joined the company as Workforce Development Manager in New York. As part of Vineyard Offshore’s External Affairs team, she will have responsibility for developing economic and workforce development partnerships for Vineyard Offshore’s recently awarded Excelsior Wind project.

Selected as part of New York’s historic investment in renewable energy recently announced by Governor Kathy Hochul, Excelsior Wind will provide 1.3 gigawatts (GW) of clean, affordable renewable energy, enough to power 700,000 New York homes and avoid 1.1 million metric tons of carbon pollution, equivalent to taking 225,000 cars off the road. Taking a collaborative and community-led approach, Vineyard Offshore will develop partnerships with local workforce training institutions and programs to meet project needs and create job opportunities in the offshore wind industry for New York workers, with a focus on disadvantaged communities.

“Our Excelsior Wind project will create thousands of good-paying jobs for New Yorkers,” said Christian Scorzoni, Vice President and Head of External Affairs for Vineyard Offshore. “We are excited to have Marlena on board to work with local partners and train the diverse, skilled local workforce we need to build our project and grow New York’s economy.”

“At Vineyard Wind, the nation’s first offshore wind project, we learned a lot about developing a qualified, local workforce,” said Jen Cullen, Director of Labor, Workforce, and Local Content for Vineyard Offshore. “I am so glad we will have Marlena reaching out to partners in higher education, regional job training programs, and community organizations to create pathways for local residents to join our industry. I am sure she will help to make our Excelsior Wind project a success for residents of the communities where we will be working.”

Fitzpatrick is a labor relations professional with 15 years’ experience working with unions. She joined SAG-AFTRA as Spanish Language Industry Relations Manager in 2008. Subsequently, she was Business Agent at AFM Local 802 representing musicians performing on Broadway and Off-Broadway productions. Fitzpatrick has also represented Dow Jones journalists and Legal Aid lawyers. As a writer, her bylines have appeared in Uforia Music, Latino Rebels, The Huffington Post, and NPR Latino USA. She is a member of Latin and National Recording Academies, and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.

“I am so excited to join Vineyard Offshore,” said Fitzpatrick. “Ensuring access to solid careers and stable, equitable jobs for people in my community is my passion. With Vineyard Offshore and its Excelsior Wind project, I’ll be bridging the gap between uplifting our communities with economic development and providing workforce to a new and growing industry.”

Marlena Fitzpatrick holds a Master of Fine Arts in Bilingual Creative Writing from the University of Texas, El Paso, and a Master of Arts degree in Labor Relations from Interamerican University of Puerto Rico. She also earned a post-graduate certificate from The New School, Mannes School of Music.

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About Vineyard Offshore

Vineyard Offshore is leading the development of two lease areas in the Northeast, in addition to a recently acquired lease in Northern California, OCS-P 0562. Lease area OCS-A 522, known as Vineyard Northeast, is located off the coast of Massachusetts. OCS-A 544, known as Vineyard Mid-Atlantic and home to the Excelsior Wind Project, is located in the New York Bight. All three lease areas are owned by funds managed by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP). Combined with its joint venture development of the first-in-the-nation offshore wind project, Vineyard Wind, now under construction, Vineyard Offshore has the potential to develop more than 6 gigawatts of clean, renewable and affordable energy on the East and West Coasts of the United States.  To learn more, visit: www.vineyardoffshore.com.