麻豆传媒映画

The Salt River Project鈥檚 coal-fired power plant, the Navajo Generating Station in Page, is closing soon.

In preparation, SRP has created a new apprenticeship program to retrain former plant workers as information technology business analysts.

Apprenti is a registered nonprofit operated by the Washington Technology Industry Association. It is intended to provide a proven, reliable pipeline for underrepresented groups, including minorities, women and veterans who want to gain training, certification and placement within the competitive tech industry, according to SRP.

鈥淭he Greater Phoenix 麻豆传媒映画 Foundation came to SRP a while back with the proposal of the Apprenti program in our organization, and the traditional model of that program is to hire externally for the apprentices,鈥� said Tina Drews, director of talent management for SRP. 鈥淯pon further consideration, I came back鈥� to the 麻豆传媒映画 Foundation and said, 鈥楥ould we use this as an opportunity to from NGS?鈥欌��

SRP funds its Apprenti program with assistance from state and federal funding as well as a with the Coconino County Career Center, Drews said.

鈥淭hey were able to secure funding for us to pay for all of the up-front education that the apprentices required to start their program,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey went through鈥� almost 12 weeks of education up at Coconino Community College.鈥�

The program also brought in instructors from Northern Arizona University to provide preliminary education before the apprentices headed down to the Valley to start their on-the-job training.

鈥淭he goal of the Apprenti program at SRP is to to highly skilled employees during the redeployment of NGS,鈥� Drews said. 鈥�, especially in the utility industry, and we want to provide apprenticeships that will fill our needs for the workforce of the future. In addition, our apprentices from NGS bring a wealth of knowledge and experience about operations, and that can be hard to find in traditional IT professionals.鈥�

Former NGS employees said they were skeptical about the new position at first due to their unfamiliarity with IT work, but they quickly adjusted.

鈥淚 started Googling and reading books about what the career path was, and what they had to do to get there, and it seriously felt like I was reading some other language,鈥� said Nicole McCarty, an SRP apprentice who formerly served as a control room operator and supervisor at NGS. 鈥淏ut, after reading some more simplified versions of it, it sounded like something that I could do. It sounded like there was a lot of process-flow thinking, which I was already accustomed to.鈥�

McCarty was just 18 years old when she started working at NGS. She said she was timid and shy at the time, but she was desperate for a job to support herself and her daughter.

鈥淚 was very timid and scared of everything, and SRP really provided me with a lot of training that had leadership skills, speaking skills, decision-making skills, and I just kept on getting better and better at everything,鈥� she said.

McCarty said she was 鈥渞eally good鈥� at her job at NGS, making the prospect of transitioning to something completely new difficult to accept 鈥� at first.

鈥淚 had always told everybody that I was going to be going down with the ship,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 was proud to work there. I was really good at what I did.鈥�

But now, McCarty said she is 鈥渉aving a blast鈥� using an application called ProVision to manage business process models for SRP, taking part in cutting-edge projects that are changing the way the utility operates.

鈥淭here are a lot of things that we can do, but the base of what we do is we actually facilitate the projects so everyone communicates clearly,鈥� McCarty said. 鈥淥ne of the things that will bring a project to its knees is conflict and confrontation, or even just no communication at all, and that is what we help projects avoid.鈥�

McCarty said she hopes to be as proficient at her new job as her current mentor appears to be. She also said she loves living in the Valley more than she ever would have expected.

Skyler June, another Apprenti participant, shared a similar story of apprehension followed by enjoyment.

June worked in the control room as well and said if he had not left NGS he probably would have ended up with McCarty鈥檚 job if she were promoted.

Because NGS is located outside of Page city limits, the plant has its own emergency response team, and June and McCarty are both trained as emergency medical technicians (EMTs) who can respond to fires and emergencies involving hazardous materials and confined spaces.

鈥淲hen I first heard about the apprentice program, I actually didn鈥檛 want to go through with it at all,鈥� June said. 鈥淚鈥檇 been working at the NGS plant for鈥� it would have been 11 years this year. And I myself have loved my job up there to the point where I could walk in, know exactly what I was doing. At any hour, any time, day or night, I just knew what to do and all the processes that go with it.鈥�

But June said his supervisors encouraged him to join SRP鈥檚 Apprenti program so he could continue to put his knowledge of power generation to use.

鈥淭hey were just like, 鈥榊ou have all these skills that you cannot waste being unemployed up here,鈥欌�� June recalled. 鈥淭hey really pushed me toward it, and it鈥檚 actually great.鈥�

June said when he was first trained at NGS, he spent long days 鈥� 10 hours a day, five days a week 鈥� being presented with a deluge of information about how the power plant operates.

Now, he and his colleagues are ready for their next challenge.

鈥淭his job is going to create a whole career that I didn鈥檛 even plan for,鈥� June said. 鈥淏ut it has opened up so many doors to where it鈥檚 not just one single aisle that I can take. It spreads out. I can pretty much go anywhere I want with this opportunity. I am nothing but grateful.鈥�

June said the IT business analyst position affords him and his colleagues chances to work on a, and he plans to work in as many departments and careers as he can to keep expanding his knowledge and experience.

鈥淎ny way that we can create value for the business but, most importantly, add value to ourselves鈥� that鈥檚 what we鈥檙e used to,鈥� he said.

Photo courtesy of SRP