Gulf Power Looking For Students To Create Interest In Energy Jobs

October 20, 2008

Gulf Power is looking to the workforce of the future to create interest in energy industry jobs.

Get into Energy Florida is a competition for high school students to create a marketing campaign to promote energy careers. The prize is an Apple iPod Touch for students on the winning team.

“We want to do two things: give students a real-world marketing campaign development opportunity and get a hip, young perspective on our energy careers,” explains Jennifer Grove, Gulf Power workforce development coordinator. “Students will be creating materials to reach out to their peers — other students — to get them excited about and interested in energy careers.”

Grove also is the industry chair of the Florida Energy Workforce Consortium (FEWC) of state utilities which is sponsoring the branding competition. This initiative is just one component of Gulf Power’ endeavors to design programs to meet projected workforce shortages, which include jobs such as power plant operators, plant and line maintenance technicians, and engineers.

Energy industry workforce needs are reaching critical levels because baby boomer employees are retiring in large numbers and there’s a smaller pool of workers who have the appropriate technical skills. Needs are particularly critical in the Southeast as energy demand in this region continues to rise. This region historically has served as the “breadbasket of craft labor” for the U.S.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has stated that the demand for entry-level employees in the utility industry is expected to grow by 9 percent each year, with 10,000 new jobs becoming available every year beginning in 2010.

Gulf Power is committed to putting science and math on a fun level with students while teaching the skills needed to join the workforce. For example, BEST Robotics (Boosting Engineering Science and Technology) is a national program in which middle and high school students build robots and compete to advance to a national showdown. Another program, I LOVE SCIENCE provides a one-hour, hands-on science projects each month in fifth grade classrooms.

Students must register for the Get Into Energy competition by November 1, and contest entries are due in December. For details and entry forms, visit the Florida Energy Workforce Consortium website at www.fewc.org.

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Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under Education, News