Program Prepares Students For Overhead Electrical Line Work

The 44th cohort of Overhead Electric Line Workers program participants celebrated completing the program. Photo provided by City Colleges of Chicago.
The 44th cohort of Overhead Electric Line Workers program participants celebrated completing the program. Photo provided by City Colleges of Chicago.


Program Prepares Students For Overhead Electrical Line Work

By Tia Carol Jones

Seventeen people were recognized for completing the Overhead Electrical Line Workers (OELW) program during a ceremony at the Dawson Technical Institute, located at 3901 S. State St., on Wednesday, July 23rd.

It was the 44th cohort of the OELW program, which was launched in 2007 and is a partnership between the City Colleges of Chicago and ComEd. During the six-month program, participants are trained in pole climbing, overhead distribution construction, general education courses, construction safety and rescue and electrical theory. According to a ComEd press release, to date, the program has graduated more than 550 students, with more than half of those hired into full-time jobs with ComEd. Dawson Technical Institute is part of Kennedy-King College.

“This program made possible by through the valued and longstanding partnership between Dawson Tech and ComEd is a powerful example of what’s possible when education and industry come together with purpose,” said Katonja Webb-Walker, President of Kennedy King College. “It demonstrates how short-term training can lead to a long-term impact, fulfilling careers, economic mobility and a skilled workforce that keeps our communities strong and connected.”

Webb-Walker said that a brighter future lies ahead for the participants who completed the program. Inesha Kelly, Dean of the Dawson Technical Institute, said the six month sacrifice the participants made is going to change their lives. Kelly said that every semester, there are more than 200 people trying to get into the OELW program, and the participants who recently completed the program are special.

“You showed perseverance, you showed grit, you showed ambition, and you made it through,” Kelly said. Kelly added that seeing the participants going through the program breathed life into her. She thanked them for reinvigorating her and congratulated them.

The City Colleges of Chicago Chancellor Juan Salgado said that there are more Black and Latino men enrolling in Kennedy-King College and that it is important for all genders to enroll in higher education. He said there is an increase in the need for men and women to enroll in programs at the City Colleges of Chicago. He said the programs offered lead to real jobs and real economic opportunities, and real possibilities for people to provide for their families and have a quality of life and find upward mobility.

ComEd Chief Operating Officer David Perez said that this fall, nine Dawson Technical Institute graduates will start as overhead helpers at ComEd. This starting position begins their apprenticeship to become a qualified trained overhead line worker. It takes three and a half years to graduate as a fully trained and qualified overhead electrician. Perez encouraged the completers of the OELW program to stay committed. Perez announced that ComEd is increasing its investment up to $130,000 in scholarships, with scholarships up to $6,000 becoming available to graduates of workforce development training programs.

“This is one-way ComEd is deepening its commitment to building a local workforce and skilled talent pipeline needed for the future,” Perez said.

During his speech, OELW Salutatorian Charles George said that the training his instructors provided is something he and his cohort will carry with them. He said the instructors led with integrity, showed up early, stayed late and ensured they learned everything in order for the cohort to become great line men. He said during the program, he and his cohort learned to trust their gear and learned to trust each other.

“Being a line man is not just about climbing poles or stringing wire, it’s about restoring power after the storm, when an entire neighborhood is dark, it’s about answering a call in the middle of the night when no one else can fix what is broken,” George said.

For more information about the ComEd OELW program and other ComEd workforce development programs, visit ComEd.com/CleanEnergyJobs. For more information about City Colleges of Chicago, visit www.ccc.edu.

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