12 People Learning Tricks of Utility Trade

By Luther Turmelle

New Haven Register

 

A dozen people selected from jobs programs in Waterbury and Hartford are in the midst of a 12-week training program that will allow them to get jobs in the utilities industry upon successful completion.

The program, which began Aug. 16, is training eight men and four women to do entry-level work for electric and natural gas utilities, said Mitch Gross, a spokesman for Connecticut Light & Power, which is holding 10 of the training sessions.

Those who successfully complete the program — which includes passing the Construction and Skilled Trades test, the exam for the utility industry — will be considered for paid apprenticeships at CL&P, Gross said.

“Even if we don’t end up hiring them, the people enrolled in this program come out with a number of skills that other employers would find attractive,” Gross said. Two of the training sessions are held at New England Tractor Trailer Training School in Somers and once those are completed, program participants will be eligible for a commercial driver’s license, he said.

Judith Resnick, CBIA’s director of work force development and training, as well as the executive director of the organization’s Education Foundation, said the program is unique. CBIA is acting as coordinator for the program.

“CL&P has offered a shorter version of this training in the past, but it was more focused on general construction,” Resnick said. “This program is brand new and attracts workers by providing them with cutting-edge skills and knowledge needed to work in the utility industry. It also provides employers with the skilled labor necessary to fill a critical need for trained entry-level workers in the utility business.”

The training is being funded through federal stimulus money and the 12 trainees had to meet income eligibility guidelines. Northeast Utilities, the corporate parent of CL&P, is matching the federal grant money for the program.