FAIRMONT, W.Va., June 22, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The
FirstEnergy Foundation will donate $200,000 over two years to help fund Pierpont
Community & Technical College's new training facility to help
prepare West Virginians for today's jobs.
Opened last year in the I-79 Technology Park in Fairmont, Pierpont's North Central Advanced
Technology Center (ATC) houses innovative classrooms that simulate
workplaces such as health clinics, manufacturing floors and
electric substations. The new center augments the programs
offered at Pierpont's nearby campus shared with Fairmont State
University.
FirstEnergy Foundation's grant to the Pierpont Community &
Technical College Foundation will be used to sustain and update
program needs at the ATC.
"We've been partnering with Pierpont for our Power Systems
Institute line and substation worker training program for years,
and we share their commitment to training West Virginians to
succeed in today's technical workplace," said Holly Kauffman, president of FirstEnergy's West
Virginia Operations. "We want West Virginians to be first in
line for the new jobs in the energy, advanced manufacturing and
health and science fields being created right here at home in
West Virginia."
The goal of the ATC is to provide graduates who enter the
regional workforce with the education and technical skills
necessary to succeed in higher wage jobs available in the medical,
energy, chemical and information technology industries. This
will support local communities and aid the state's continued
efforts to diversify its economy.
Since FirstEnergy forged its PSI partnership with Pierpont in
2012, 91 PSI graduates have been hired as line or substation
employees for FirstEnergy's Mon Power, Potomac Edison and West Penn
Power utilities. Students spend two-and-a-half days each week
at the ATC completing academic course work with the remainder of
the week spent at a Mon Power training facility in White Hall, W.Va., focusing on safe work
practices and procedures in the electrical environment.
The FirstEnergy Foundation is funded solely by FirstEnergy Corp.
(NYSE: FE) and provides support to non-profit, tax-exempt health
and human services agencies; educational organizations; cultural
and arts programs and institutions; and civic groups in areas
served by FirstEnergy's 10 electric operating companies and in
areas where the company conducts business.
FirstEnergy is dedicated to safety, reliability and operational
excellence. Its 10 electric distribution companies form one
of the nation's largest investor-owned electric systems, serving
customers in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New
Jersey, West Virginia,
Maryland and New York.
Follow FirstEnergy online at www.firstenergycorp.com. Follow
FirstEnergy on Twitter @FirstEnergyCorp.
Editor's Note: Photos of Holly Kauffman, president of FirstEnergy's West
Virginia Operations, presenting a check to representatives of
Pierpont Community & Technical College to help support the new
North Central Advanced Technology Center are available for download
on Flickr.
To view the original version on PR Newswire,
visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/firstenergy-foundation-donates-200000-to-support-pierpont-community--technical-college-in-fairmont-300478415.html
SOURCE FirstEnergy Corp.