Celebrating National Apprenticeship Week
Lineworker Apprentices receive top-notch training at PEC
The lineworkers who work in the field maintaining our system and restoring outages at any time, in any weather are critical to the success of the cooperative. It’s a demanding profession, and completing the journey from apprentice to journeyworker requires great dedication. PEC is committed to building the best lineworkers, and doing so means investing in a strong apprenticeship program.
National Apprenticeship Week is November 15-21, and we’re celebrating our apprentices and affirming our commitment to the electrical industry by signing the National Apprenticeship Week proclamation “Our apprentices are the foundation we build our safe, reliable service on, and we’re always proud to support them in their learning and growth as lineworkers,” said Wayne McKee, PEC vice president of safety and technical training. PEC has received formal recognition from the U.S. Department of Labor for signing the proclamation.
“The apprenticeship program here at PEC is top of the line,” said PEC Lineworker Apprentice James Hunter. “We have great instructors and training, not to mention being fortunate enough to have it all in house.”
PEC has been training apprentices in the heart of our service territory since opening the Safety and Technical Training Center in July of 2020. Since then, a team of instructors has provided rigorous training to lineworkers across the cooperative. Together, they’re preparing today’s apprentices to become tomorrow’s journeyworkers, the most experienced and qualified lineworkers on staff.
“I’m proud to be completing my apprenticeship next month under PEC,” Hunter said.
Our industry-recognized 8,000-hour Lineworker Apprenticeship Program offers some of the best training a lineworker can get. PEC apprentices get paid to work on a crew, learning on-the-job while working toward the Department of Labor Journeyworker certification. We also provide cross-training opportunities that turn apprentices into well-rounded lineworkers – and that training produces results.
“By signing on with us, they can train from the best, build a meaningful career, and serve their communities, right here at home,” James Vasquez, manager of the apprenticeship program, said. “It’s an honor to be part of building something so special; we’re all certainly proud.”
Interested in joining the PEC crew in blue? PEC was recently named a 2020 Best Workplace in both Austin and San Antonio! Visit jobs.pec.coop to see our job listings.