🔒Workforce Development: Eversource partners with community colleges to develop line-worker pipeline

As many industries grapple with labor shortages and worker retention efforts, utility giant Eversource has turned to the state’s community college network to help recruit, and train, potential employees.

Last year, Eversource began a partnership with Hartford-based Capital Community College to launch an 11-week overhead line worker certificate program with a mix of classroom work and hands-on field training.

The company said the program gives it a local talent pipeline at a time when it’s trying to hire about 40 new line workers annually. The program has become so successful that Eversource is introducing it to Housatonic Community College in Bridgeport for the school’s upcoming spring semester.

“We’ve got a workforce for the future that we’re building,” said Eversource Vice president of Operation Services Steve Driscoll, who oversees the company’s workforce programs. “The community college programs, we found, were a very enabling way to tap into the local area and provide opportunities for people to learn about our industry, find out about our company, and to share the same type of opportunities that many of us had back when we started our careers.”

Filling a need

Christian Galain, 22, of Wethersfield, is pursuing an engineering degree at Central Connecticut State University. He takes classes at night, but during the day he is an Eversource line worker.

Galain is one of 15 recent graduates from the apprenticeship line worker program at Capital Community College. He said he’s wanted to work for Eversource for years and thought the program was a good fit for what he was looking for.

“My friend who did the program came up to me and he told me, ‘this is a great way to start to get your foot in the door at Eversource,’ ” Galain said. “He explained what the program was about to me and the second he told me, I started the application right away.”

The program teaches everything a potential line worker should know before beginning an apprenticeship, including basic electricity concepts. Students spend Saturdays at Eversource’s Berlin facility for hands-on activities like pole climbing and tools training.

Capital Community College CEO G. Duncan Harris said his school has had three cohorts of students, 45 total, graduate from the apprenticeship line worker program. The first class had roughly 185 applicants, he said, but only 15 students were chosen due to limited capacity.

He called the program “life-changing” as it directly pairs students with a company that wants to hire them. That’s the model for most of the training and certificate programs at the college.

“What’s unique about some of these programs is that there’s almost a guaranteed job at the end of it,” Harris said.

Driscoll said the program is like an “11-week interview” where both the company and students learn if they’re a good fit for each other.

The company expects most, if not all, of the most recent Capital Community College program graduates to be interviewing for job openings shortly. Eversource, which serves 1.27 million electrical customers in Connecticut, currently employs about 436 line workers.

“After 11 weeks, when it comes time to interview they are already familiar with Eversource and the culture, they’re prepared to be competitive candidates for permanent positions,” Harris said.

Galain is a line apprentice, a position with starting pay of $37.23 per hour. After a few years, he’ll be able to move up and have more responsibilities as a fully qualified line worker, which receives starting hourly pay of $54.87.

“They earn their stripes before they move up the ladder here,” said Eversource spokesman Mitch Gross.

In addition to Capital and Housatonic, Eversource has a longstanding relationship with Naugatuck Valley Community College, Gross said.

“Eversource has a network already developed to replenish our workforce in some ways,” Gross said. “It’s a great untapped opportunity, and I think we recognize that.”

Eversource in 2018 launched a natural gas field technician certificate program at Middlesex Community College. The program has since been put on hiatus because of shifting demand for that business.

“Right now our gas business is changing and shifting,” Driscoll said. “We’re in a maintenance mode and maybe not necessarily in a growth mode.”

Harris said Capital and the state’s other community colleges can be a resource for businesses that need qualified employees.

The school also has a five-week intro to manufacturing training program in partnership with Eastford aerospace manufacturer Whitcraft. Capital is getting ready to launch another apprenticeship program with business consulting firm Accenture, Harris said.

“I think that businesses and the state are really looking at our community college system as a key cog in the state’s economic engine,” Harris said. “We have an ability to get companies talent that meets their workforce needs.”

And for some students, the program gives a taste of potential career paths.

“I was excited about the work itself, like I’ve always wanted to do it,” Galain said. “It’s a lot of responsibility, but I’m up for it.”