Kentucky Power establishes lineman scholarship

Dec. 6, 2018

 

     For women interested in a less traditional line of work, line work could actually be the right fit.
Kentucky Power recently established the Kentucky Lineman Scholarship at Ashland Community and Technical College, and while “lineman” is in the title, the new scholarship is geared toward women and minorities who want to enter the technical field.
     The scholarship fund was established with an initial gift of $1,500 from Kentucky Power. The scholarship will be awarded to female or minority students who are enrolled in ACTC’s new Workforce Solutions lineman program, which will begin enrolling students this spring for the course that begins in mid-March. Applicants to the scholarship must also include a one-page essay as to why they want to become a line person. To apply for the scholarship, students should complete ACTC’s general scholarship application, which can be found at ashland.kctcs.edu/affording-college.
     “Line work historically has been dominated predominately by white men. But just as our military has opened up more roles for women and minorities, utilities across the country also are looking to diversify their workforce to better represent the communities we serve,” said Everett Phillips, managing director of Distribution Region Operations. “At Kentucky Power, we are committed to fostering an inclusive business environment and see this scholarship as one way we can attract more women and minorities to our industry. While line work is still a physically challenging job, modernization has diminished the physical demands of the day-to-day work. Some 25 years ago, where a job may have called for a five-person crew, bucket trucks and other tools now allow that same job to be completed by a two-person team.”
     For more information on the lineman program, contact Workforce Solutions at as_workforce@kctcs.edu.