Trends, Reports & Analyses
Training Next Generation of Linemen
In this job, the college website says, normal working hours apply only when the electricity is on. “If someone is out of service your work day is not over.” And if you like staying on the ground, it makes clear that “this career is not for you.”
Anyone afraid of heights need not apply to the Lineman Training Center. (Photo By: Dean Rhodes)
It’s certainly truth in advertising from the Lineman Training Center at Kentucky’s Somerset Community College, where those looking for a desk job might want to consider accounting.
“It’s not for everybody,” said Dean Rhodes, the center’s coordinator. “Yes, there’s fear in it. There’s wind, rain, snow, cold. When it’s hot, you’re hot,” said Rhodes, who spent 21 years at Kentucky Utilities. “As I tell my students, ‘I missed a lot in my life. It cost me a lot: birthdays, holidays.’”
But for students seeking a solid career with vast opportunities, this is the place.
FILLING A VOID
After years of planning, the center opened in 2008 to fill the vacancies being created by a generation of retiring linemen.
“We were looking at statistics where young adults were not entering that career path,” said Carol Wright, chief operations officer at Jackson Energy Cooperative, McKee, Ky. “That type of skill is needed in a lot of other industries besides electric: telephone, fiber optic, cable companies.”
Wright chairs the center’s advisory committee and spent four years helping get the program off the ground. That included looking for a facility to use as a model, which they found at American Electric Power in Ohio.
“They were very helpful,” Wright recalled, with the investor-owned utility giving not only the blueprints, “They donated their entire curriculum.”
Planners worked with other utilities and vendors to receive donations of everything from poles, crossarms and insulators to a bucket truck. “We reached out to everybody that we could possibly reach out to in our industry,” Wright said. “We told everybody what we were doing and once we did that, everybody just helped any way they possibly could.”
That generosity continues to this day, according to Rhodes.
“The co-ops have just been instrumental in helping me,” Rhodes said. “All I’ve had to do is call. If I let them know what I need, I’ll have it Monday morning when I go back, it’s that simple.”
IOUs, munis and contractors also help out, and are not shy about telling Rhodes about their needs when it comes to training. “With that, I’ve got my thumb on the heartbeat of the industry.”
REAL WORLD TRAINING
“We cover a lot. It’s fast paced,” Rhodes said of the sessions, which last eight weeks apiece. Students are immersed from day one.
Lineman Training Center students graduate ready for the real world. (Photo By: Dean Rhodes)
“We treat them just like they work for a utility: We hold them to the same safety rules, you show up on time. And when they come out they already know what the work is, so when they go to work for a utility it’s not a big shock.”
And don’t bother asking Rhodes to inflate your grade.
“The grade you get is the grade you earn. We don’t do any curves. This is an industry where you’re not afforded a gift. If I give them a gift then they’re not prepared for what they’re about to enter into.”
After a one-week break, the next class starts, so the Lineman Training Center is able to run several classes each year, each limited to 25 students.
“On average we’ll graduate about 17 out of 25,” Rhodes said. It’s a statistic he’s proud of because prospective employers know that his graduates are prepared for work.
Finding that work generally isn’t a problem. Not only is there a demand for linemen, but the center also helps out.
On the seventh week of class, Rhodes invites co-ops, municipals, IOUs and contractors to a job fair, where prospective employers can watch students during training. He believes that makes a big difference.
“If I can watch a man on a pole for 10 minutes, I can tell you more about him than I can interviewing him for two hours,” Rhodes said. “We’ve had several students hired on that day and they still have a week-and-a-half left of training.” Instructors also help students with resumes.
A STUDENT’S STORY
A mechanic by trade, Anthony Davis is heading down a new career path as a lineman. Davis, 23, from western Kentucky, is on track to complete his training at the center in late September.
When work as a mechanic dried up in the poor economy, Anthony Davis decided to become a lineman. (Photo By: Dean Rhodes)
Davis used to fix engines and transmissions, but, “There’s not a whole lot of work right now. Everything’s kind of fallen to pieces, I guess you could say.”
Several people told him about the need for linemen, so Davis went online to check it out. He also spoke to an acquaintance who completed his training at the center. “He was enjoying what he was doing, so I figured I’d give it a shot.”
In his fifth week of training, when he spoke to ECT.coop, Davis acknowledged that “it takes a little bit of getting used to.”
“I’d never much more than looked up a pole. I’d never been on one, never been in a bucket truck.” But, he’s quick to add, he enjoys it—and is optimistic that he will find work, even if it involves odd hours, weekends and holidays.
“The holidays would be nice to have off. But right now is a bad time to be out of a job. If a man needs to work holidays to keep his job, that’s what he’s going to have to do.”
SUCCESS
The program’s track record speaks for itself.
Since its first class in 2008, 249 students have completed the course and 205 of them, or 82 percent, are employed. More recently, from August 2010 to August 2011, 80 of the 85 students to finish have found work, making for a 94 percent placement rate.
The program has won several awards, including the 2010 Governor’s Spirit of Kentucky Award. Several organizations offer scholarships, including Jackson Energy. The first recipient of the co-op’s full scholarship graduates with the current class. And when it comes to filling vacancies, Jackson Energy naturally looks to graduates of the program.
“I’ve hired five,” Wright said, “and will probably be hiring three more within the next six to eight months.”