by Ralph Bellavance, Mansfield Municipal Electric Department and Kevin Snow, Groveland Municipal Electric Department

Hello NEPPA membership,

The NEPPA Apprentice Lineworker Review and Advisory Subcommittee has held meetings over the past few months under the leadership of Scott Larsen of Hendrix Wire & Cable. Our meetings have been well attended and full of discussion concerning “all things line work”, from the construction of the new underground training yard at NEPPA to the size of our apprenticeship classes. Although the issues are many, we want to highlight two items that we think deserve special attention by the NEPPA membership.

First, we will hold a General Foreman’s Roundtable at NEPPA’s Office on September 8, 2022. We’d love your support as we want to bring together the Journeyman lineman that are leading your utility operations. The agenda for the meeting will come out shortly, but in advance of a final agenda we can say that topics will include identification of the difficulty of transitioning into a leadership position; the NEPPA Underground Training Yard construction and utilization; and the need and implementation of a climbing school for all new apprentices. It will certainly be worth your employee efforts to attend the roundtable. One focus of this group will also be to layout a schedule of meetings moving forward. The idea is to restart this event at NEPPA HQ, but ultimately, we’d like to rotate this meeting around the NEPPA territory to see some of the challenges your lineworkers face in your area of the northeast. If you have questions about the meeting or thoughts on the agenda, please reach out to Ralph Bellavance. (ralph.bellavance@mansfieldma.com)

Our second topic is equally exciting. For persons new to the electric utility industry, NEPPA’s Apprentice Lineschool can be challenging and sometimes overwhelming. Often, new lineworkers can have a difficult time asking peers at their home utility for assistance in understanding the concepts and techniques taught as part of the curriculum. Further still, the influx of students in the apprentice classes has at times stretched the abilities of instructors to provide students with the individual attention some may need.  As a remedy we felt that the creation of a mentorship program for new apprentices would have value for the apprentices, the instructors, the mentors, and our member systems. Our proposed program seeks to identify 2-4 skilled lineworkers who have a penchant for teaching their craft to others. Mentors would be responsible for meeting their assigned apprentices on the first day of class and ideally follow them through their 4 years of lineschool. Additionally, mentors may be asked to assist instructors in the classroom or training yard to explain related concepts or to provide guidance and instruction on climbing and line construction techniques. Beyond these practical applications, the program would also provide networking between the apprentices and mentors, with the ultimate goal of providing a trusted, reliable source in the utility industry for students to ask questions related to our profession.

If you have interest in becoming a mentor or have thoughts on how we can improve our proposed program, please reach out to Kevin Snow (ksnow@grovelandlight.com).

Remember, sometimes it’s simply about the fellowship. Take advantage of these opportunities to be engage.

Sincerely,

Ralph and Kevin

General Foreman Roundtable

2:00 pm (EST)

Virtual

Crew Leadership - Two Locations

October 12-13, 2022

2:00 pm (EST)

Virtual

November 1-3, 2022

NEPPA Training Center

Littleton, MA

November 8-9, 2022

NEPPA Training Center

Littleton, MA

2:00 pm (EST)

Virtual

@Your-Site Virtual: Circuit Breakers & Relays

TBD Location

2:00 pm (EST)

Virtual

*Please contact communications@neppa.org to be notified as soon as registration opens.

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