Chattanooga EPB Opens Doors for Underrepresented Groups
According to the latest Energy Workforce Survey conducted by the Center for Energy Workforce Development, turnover in this industry is at its highest in the 17-year history of the survey. Retirements in 2023 were expected to outpace the two previous years, and nearly 7 percent of energy sector employees left their jobs due to reasons other than retirement. Numbers like these highlight the vital need to focus recruiting new employees to the electric utility industry.
Some Valley local power companies (LPCs) have adopted an approach to this challenge that both builds a stronger workforce for their organization and helps build a stronger community. In addition to Memphis Light, Gas and Water, featured in this issue’s “Big Ideas” column for their work establishing high school bootcamps designed to reach underrepresented populations at four area high schools, other LPCs in the Valley are also implementing a variety of programs aimed at recruiting and hiring employees from groups that have been historically underrepresented in the utility industry workforce.
At Chattanooga EPB, a long-standing relationship with Hamilton County Schools evolved in 2018 when the local energy and fiber provider committed to a four-year partnership to form the EPB Future-Ready Institute of Technology and Networking at Tyner Academy, whose student population is 96 percent minorities. The EPB Institute is just one of 13 “Future Ready Institutes” across the Hamilton County Schools system designed to expose students to a variety of career options.
That partnership — renewed in 2022 for an additional four years — allows students who choose to participate in the program to learn about all aspects of Chattanooga EPB’s business. “Supporting this collaboration exposes students to EPB’s departments and functions and makes them aware of the career opportunities here while offering them the chance to learn valuable and marketable job skills, including coding and computer networking,” said Ketha Richardson, EPB’s Director of Inclusion, Diversity & Corporate Training. Roughly 200 students across three grades participate in the program each year. “The EPB Institute is by far the largest of Tyner’s three institutes,” Richardson said, pointing out that EPB promotes the program with a recruiting event. Throughout their three years in the program, students visit EPB’s headquarters quarterly, make presentations and share what they are working on. “Over time,” said Richardson, “our staff develops a rapport with the students, and we are able to follow them and watch their development up through their graduation.”
Upon completion of the program, students have the opportunity to earn certifications including OSHA 10, Comptia A+, Comptia Network + and CCNA.
With the launch of EPB Quantum NetworkSM powered by Qubitekk, a maker of quantum networking components, the LPC introduced students to quantum theory and concepts during the annual World Quantum Day celebration, by bringing in quantum experts and speakers to work with teachers to develop learning opportunities.
Richardson credited this program, among others undertaken by the company, with opening opportunities for underrepresented groups in the community. “These students represent groups who are not traditionally represented in a lot of the things we do at EPB, so they may not know somebody who does that job.”
Richardson lit up sharing the reciprocal nature of EPB’s program at Tyner and discussing how it creates options for students. “It is actually pretty cool to be a part of it … and to support different types of students. Some will go off to college, and some will enter a trade. We get a chance to show them what’s available to them in this industry, no matter which path they choose. We have one student who was involved with our institute from the very beginning and participated in all of our summer programs. He was in our Step Up program, and he was in other summer programming we supported. Now, he’s a student at Tennessee State University and has interned with us for the last couple of years.”
That student, TSU junior Timetrius Landsen, who graduated from Tyner in 2022, said that he probably would never have considered a career with an electric power company had it not been for Chattanooga EPB’s student programs. “I would still be looking at EPB from a customer point of view. I would see it as just a utility company and not what I see today. I see the importance of EPB and its many amazing and moving parts. If I weren’t given the opportunity to do those programs, I would never see the difference EPB makes in our community and the lives of its customers,” he said.
Richardson points out the change he’s seen in Landsen through his participation in EPB programs. “Timetrius has thrived since he has been involved with our programs, and it has been wonderful to watch his confidence grow. From being afraid to speak in public to where he is … when he stands in front of a group now, he is like a whole other person. And he’ll tell you that a lot of that confidence is due to his experiences here with us. What a great story to tell in itself.”
In addition to their Institute for Coding & Networking at Tyner Academy, EPB has worked with Hamilton County Schools, the City of Chattanooga, nonprofit Chattanooga 2.0, the Benwood Foundation, the Hamilton County Mayor’s Office, the Association of Blacks in Energy, the IBEW, TVA and other partners to develop the Viable Pathways in Linework program to educate area high school students about careers as lineworkers.
On August 21, nearly two dozen Hamilton County students from underrepresented groups signed commitments to participate in lineworker training to begin what local leaders and EPB representatives hope will be a life-changing career, empowering them with the skills to earn a thriving wage in their communities.
Richardson said, “Lineworking is a high-quality, skilled profession with the potential for tremendous growth [opportunities]. Professionals can be proud of their role as first responders and essential community resources. They help communities grow by creating new infrastructure, keeping the lights on to support learning in schools and heading into storms to restore power while many of us are sheltered. It’s a great career and a great alternative for someone whose path doesn’t include the traditional college route. There are only so many lineworkers we can hire at EPB, so we are grateful to have partners like TVA and the IBEW who also have opportunities available.”
Richardson noted that having strong, committed mentors for a program like this is an essential component. Also, to help prepare the students with what to expect before their first day at the Southeast Lineman Training Academy, they will participate in a two-day bootcamp to gain exposure to some of the challenges — like climbing a pole or using tools — they will face in the program.
Richardson spoke proudly of another EPB career development program focused on introducing the underrepresented to careers in the utility industry. “Opportunity On Ramp is a partnership with Chattanooga State Community College that gives people from underrepresented groups the chance to work at EPB they may not have considered otherwise. Students spend 90 days at Chatt State learning soft skills, and then they spend 90 days here doing job shadowing for different areas. We don’t make any promises to anyone, but if it works out after those 180 days, we can potentially offer some people some full-time positions here at EPB. Currently, we have six full-time employees here who have gone through that program.”
Lastly, Richardson mentioned that EPB also has a partnership with the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s MOSAIC program, which supports the needs of degree-seeking students who are on the autism spectrum. “We have placed several students from this program in internships, and it has been a great experience.”
He added, “Our organization has grown and is stronger from having a diverse workforce. People with diverse backgrounds have different ways of thinking, which opens up the possibilities for problem-solving. It allows us to better understand our customers’ needs when we have employees who are more representative of our community. With this lineman program, you have these guys out here with these different backgrounds working in the field with these other guys who may not be used to working with them, but they get to know each other, and they’ve developed this relationship and this bond. It’s deeply meaningful to see how it unfolds.”