Three South Georgia Technical College students receive Georgia Power Electrical Lineworker scholarships

November 17, 2020
Shown above (l to r) are South Georgia Technical College Business and Industry Director Paul Farr, Georgia Power Company Workforce Development Coordinator Marilyn Walker, Georgia Power Company Electrical Lineworker Scholarship students Shabius Williams, Bakari Etienne, and LaBaron Lewis with Kenny Holiday from Georgia Power Talent Acquisitions. Not shown is SGTC Vice President of Institutional Advancement and SGTC Foundation Executive Director Su Ann Bird.
Shown above (l to r) are South Georgia Technical College Business and Industry Director Paul Farr, Georgia Power Company Workforce Development Coordinator Marilyn Walker, Georgia Power Company Electrical Lineworker Scholarship students Shabius Williams, Bakari Etienne, and LaBaron Lewis with Kenny Holiday from Georgia Power Talent Acquisitions. Not shown is SGTC Vice President of Institutional Advancement and SGTC Foundation Executive Director Su Ann Bird.

      South Georgia Technical College Electrical Lineworker students Bakari Etienne of Union City, LaBaron Lewis of Waynesboro, and Shabius Williams of College Park were all awarded Georgia Power Electrical Lineworker Scholarships recently.  The scholarships were awarded based on work ethics, academics, and overall class performance.  

   Georgia Power Company Workforce Development Coordinator Marilyn Walker and Kenny Holiday, GPC Talent Acquisitions, were on hand when South Georgia Technical College Foundation Executive Director Su Ann Bird and SGTC Business and Industry Director Paul Farr made the presentation to the students.

    “We would like to thank Georgia Power Company for their support of South Georgia Technical College students and for their support of the SGTC Foundation,” said SGTC Vice President of Institutional Advancement and SGTC Foundation Executive Director Su Ann Bird.  “Georgia Power’s support of our students, the foundation and college is very important.  Georgia Power is helping students and the college ‘move forward’ with these scholarship opportunities.  We appreciate what you have done in the past and continue to do for the college, the faculty, staff, and most importantly, our students.”

   All three students thanked South Georgia Technical College for offering the Electrical Lineworker program and Georgia Power for initiating the scholarship.  “This has been a great experience,” said LaBaron Lewis of Waynesboro.  “I would like to thank Georgia Power for providing this scholarship opportunity and for their support of this program.”   Both Bakari Etienne and Shabius Williams agreed that the training and knowledge that they had gained during the course would prove invaluable to their opportunity for a career as an Electrical Lineworker.

   South Georgia Technical College partnered with power companies, electric cooperatives and others to initiate the Electrical Lineworker Program in 2005.  There was a need by these companies to replenish retiring workers.  Students in the Electrical Lineworker Apprentice program undergo training in the classroom, on an actual skills field with electrical poles and platforms, earn a Commercial Truck Driving Class B License and then participate in observation-based on-the-job training.

   In the classroom, students learn about the AC/DC electrical theory, field training, occupational safety, team work, line construction theory, line clearance, rigging, transformers, basic telecommunications, and utility metering.  Approximately two-thirds of the program is devoted to strenuous hands-on skills allowing students to develop a high degree of proficiency in the electrical lineworking equipment and procedures.  All SGTC Electrical Lineworker students have the opportunity to earn a CDL Class A or B license as part of the program.  To be employed as an electrical lineworker, students must be able to drive the Bucket and Digger trucks and trailers that carry the electrical poles.

     For more information about the Electrical Lineworker program at South Georgia Technical College or to apply for the next class, contact Tami Blount at 229-931-2040 or tblount@southgatech.edu.