State Consortia

Georgia

Visit the Georgia Energy and Industrial Construction Consortium (GEICC) website.

2019 Georgia State Energy and Education Assessment

2019 Consortium Activities

Georgia had a change in leadership in 2019 and pulled together its members in a face-to-face meeting to conduct a detailed review of its 2019 Strategic Workforce Plan and developed strategies for 2020.

Careers in Energy Week 2019

  • On October 14, Georgia Transmissions, part of the Oglethorpe Family of Companies, hosted Henry County College and Career Academy students for Careers in Energy Week. Engineering and electrical students toured the Electronics Maintenance Lab and the Fiber and Solar Trailer, and viewed the Control Room. There was also a panel discussion with recent college graduates on careers. See pictures from the event.
  • On October 14, Oglethorpe hosted a Careers in Energy Expo.
  • On October 17, Georgia Power visited North DeKalb Tech High School’s Career Academy.
  • On October 18, Georgia Power participated in the Atlanta Aerotropolis Career Expo. Approximately 350 students from South Fulton and Clayton County schools attended.

2018 Consortium Activities

The Georgia Energy and Industrial Construction Consortium (GEICC) has had another successful year which highlighted some of their ongoing outreach programs as well as implementing some new ideas and programs. The highlights are:

Strategic Planning Session

  • February 7–8: The Executive Committee met off-site in Atlanta to discuss where the organization has come from and chart efforts for the next 2–3 years. Areas for future growth and attention included:
    • Succession Planning
    • Programming
      • Mission focused, reaching TSA leadership/new educators, engage more utility personnel regionally
    • Presenting to CTAE leadership at Statewide meeting and TSA Statewide meetings
    • Documenting GEICC’s History/Success/Telling our Story to new audiences
      • Update collateral material for students
    • Utilizing Advisory Board/Committees and connecting HS students & technical programs
    • Review use of limited resources & evaluate results from existing efforts

Career Fairs

  • March 22–25: CEFGA Career Expo & SkillsUSA State competition
    • 7,500 student, teacher, and parent attendees
    • GEICC sponsored World of Energy with 80+ industry volunteers from 12 industry member corporations which included three new industry partners in the exhibit
    • Pike brought their virtual training simulator which was well received by students
    • Several new EMCs also participated this year
  • Industry hosted approximately 30 site tours across the state at power generation and distribution facilities including nuclear, solar, gas, hydroelectric, and coal-fired facilities

Classroom Presentations

  • GEICC members present to classrooms across the state with a focus on 3rd grade, middle schools, and college & career academies
  • Georgia Transmission hosted energy pathway students at their training center and covered transmission basics, injured lineman rescue, and toured the substation yard

Participating in FIRST Robotics

  • March 3–April 8: FIRST Robotics regional and statewide competitions
  • GEICC members consulted, judged, and staffed the repair shop for FIRST Robotics competitions

Supporting the GA TSA

  • March 16–17 in Athens, GA: GEICC representative Nora Swanson, Southern Nuclear, served on the planning committee for their newly developed Career Expo and staffed a booth on behalf of Southern Nuclear. Plans are to increase participation in this for upcoming years.
  • GEICC provided competition judges and a $500 sponsorship.

Awarding Scholarships

  • Awarded a $500 scholarship to an Energy Pathway student from Forsyth, GA
  • New this year: Sponsored two energy pathway teachers to attend the National CEWD conference

Hosting GEICC Annual Golf Tournament

  • May 7: GEICC hosted its 8th annual golf tournament with 174 golfers in attendance. Funds raised support the GEICC pathway support programs, scholarships, and GEICC activities like the Career Expo Skills USA conference. Lt. Governor Casey Cagle attended the tournament opening ceremony and served as the honorary chair. Net revenue was $30,000, double the revenue of previous years.

CEWD programming

  • GEICC attended the annual SE Regional CEWD meeting hosted by Southern Company Gas. Representatives from all member companies were present.
  • As a follow-up to that meeting, GEICC invited Rosa Schmidt to attend a small group session in August with about 15 HR associates from all member companies to cover CEWD’s website, available tools, diversity outreach, and other HR career planning tools.
  • Rosa from CEWD also attended the annual October GEICC Membership meeting and presented CEWD website tutorials, energy pathway support, and recruitment tools to 75 attendees that included industry, secondary and postsecondary education partners, and GEICC member companies.

Georgia Transmission hosted teacher training

  • Teacher turnout was low this year, but those that did attend were immersed in a 3-day, hands-on course covering the areas of safety, distribution, right of way, hazards, substations, ITS, power restoration, and equipment.

Energy Pathway Playbook

  • Brooke Perez, Georgia Power, and Roger Ivey, GA DOE, have finalized the Energy Pathway playbook to serve as a guide and timeline for any school interested in starting an energy pathway. This document will provide them with all of the necessary steps to insure they have a plan and partnerships in place before beginning the process.

Careers in Energy Week

  • Paulding County is opening a new college & career academy in fall 2018. As a recruiting tool for the new energy pathway, all middle school students in the district attended a Career Fair focused on all things energy which was a collaboration between Greystone Energy, Georgia Power, Carroll EMC, and the STEM teachers.

GEICC Annual Membership meeting:

  • As mentioned earlier, a record 75 attendees were present to hear:
    • GEICC leadership recap the programs and status of the consortium
    • Update from CEFGA on success with workforce efforts in construction and reaching at-risk student and adult populations
    • Update form GACTE on CTAE programs in Georgia
    • CEWD offerings for members from Rosa Schmidt
    • Energy Pathway playbook overview
    • Q&A with Democratic State School Board candidate, Otha Thornton

2017 GEICC Accomplishments

2017 Consortium Activities

The Georgia Energy and Industrial Construction Consortium (GEICC) 2017 calendar has proven to be another successful year with our statewide footprint and participation from our members at an all-time high. See the Accomplishments document above for more information. Below are some highlights:

  • GA Career, Technical & Agricultural Education Statewide Conference
    • July 10th – The GEICC-sponsored workshop, presented by Sheree Sturgis, Director of HR – Southern Operations, Southern Company Gas, focused on careers in the natural gas industry and employability skills.
  • Hosting GEICC Annual Golf Tournament
    • May 24th – GEICC hosted its 7th annual golf tournament with 160 golfers in attendance. Funds raised support the GEICC pathway support programs, scholarships, and GEICC activities like the Career Expo Skills USA conference. Lieutenant Governor Casey Cagle attended the tournament opening ceremony and served as our honorary chair. Net revenue was approximately $15,000.
  • Organization and Structure
    • Pike Electric has joined the consortia as a dues-paying member, bringing our total to 13 members. These members represent every utility in the state (IOU, EMCs, Municipals, and Gas providers), as well as K-12 and technical education. Membership meetings continue to draw between 50-70 attendees.
  • GEICC has partnered with the Georgia DOE to develop the Energy Pathway playbook to serve as a guide and timeline for any school interested in starting an energy pathway. This document will provide them with all of the necessary steps to ensure that they partner with their local utilities, the GA BOE, GEICC, local workforce development and chamber of commerce partners, as well as local educators. Information will include cover curriculum, certification, cost to implement, classroom/lab equipment needs, anticipated cost, and design.

Careers in Energy Week 2017

  • GEICC announces the second annual scholarship program for students interested in pursuing a career in energy at Lt. Governor Casey Cagle College & Career summit on November 13.
  • Georgia Transmission Corporation:
    • Tucker Middle School Transmission Line Siting Project: Georgia Transmission associates meet regularly with middle school STEM students to present a transmission line siting project. Students are presented with an actual scenario and project for siting a new line and must learn about and evaluate all areas impacting this project, such as: environmental impacts, zoning and county commission concerns, geography and land elevation, cost, etc.
  • Oglethorpe Power Corporation:
    • Tucker High School STEM Students: Students will tour Snapping Shoals EMC to learn about careers offered at the cooperative and will tour and discuss their new on-site solar installation.
    • Polk College & Career Academy: Advanced Physics and Chemistry students will tour the Sewell Creek Energy facility, a gas powered generation plant, to learn about electricity generation and how principles of physics and chemistry apply to plant operations.
    • Plant associates from the TA Smith Energy facility will be meeting with Murray County high school students interested in applying for the high school internship position at their facility that starts in January 2018.
    • Students from the Murray County Chamber of Commerce youth leadership program will be touring the plant later this year to learn about careers in the power industry.
  • Southern Company Gas:
    • An activity book for elementary school students will debut in October for all statewide offices to use when presenting to students throughout the year.
    • A standard presentation focused on high school students will also debut in October that includes hands-on activities, such as a meter assembly competition.
    • Instagram frames were developed so that associates can take their own photo and insert it in the frame with the caption “My Job Is…” These will be posted on all appropriate social media to drive career awareness and discussion.
  • Greystone Power Corporation:
    • Hosted Mason Creek Elementary School 3rd graders on a field trip to learn about solar.
    • Attending Career Awareness fairs at Douglas County High School on October 6, 13 & 27. We will be using the CEWD Careers in Energy brochures for the 8th grade class on October 27.
    • Will be presenting Safety City to Mason Creek Elementary School 5th graders in November.

2016 Consortium Activities

For Careers in Energy Week, the consortium hosted a panel on energy industry and education partnerships. They have also held other panels with educators on a variety of topics including work-based learning with one planned on co-ops for the next meeting. The consortium has a focus on “nontraditional” energy jobs like accounting, supply chain, etc. In addition, they continue to implement their scholarship program, which is funded by their annual golf tournament.

Careers in Energy Week 2016

  • Each high school CTAE director will receive the following via email:
    • GEICC Who We Are flyer
    • Pathway Into Energy flyer, which was an ad placed in Contractor magazine that each student attending the March 2016 CEFGA Career Expo/Skills USA State competition received
    • Save the Date card via email that invites them to the World of Energy booth at the March 2017 CEFGA Career Expo/Skills USA State Competition
  • GEICC divided up the Career Academies in the state based on location and the local utility will be reaching out to present to their classes during Careers in Energy Week. GEICC is also mailing each Career Academy teaching the Energy Pathway a set of career posters with GEICC information.
  • The annual stakeholders meeting will be held October 11 in Atlanta at Oglethorpe Power Corporation, where attendees from government, state BOE, Career Academy teacher and administrators, education partners, legislative representatives, and industry personnel will network and hear updates on the following:
    • Legislation effecting education
    • Economic outlook for industrial construction
    • Engineering career outreach through IEEE
    • Work-Based Learning for high school students panel discussion
    • Cooperative education programs: Work-Related Learning for college students
  • GEICC will be announcing their newly developed scholarship program for students graduating in the spring. $500 scholarships will be awarded as follows:
    • 3 scholarships awarded to students graduating from the Energy Pathway programs at our Career Academies
    • 1 scholarship to the State winner at Skills USA in March 2017
    • 1 scholarship to the State winner of the FIRST Robotics competition
  • On October 24, GEICC will recognize those students chosen by their instructors to attend the Lt. Governor’s Career Summit and participate on the panel discussion about their experiences in their chosen pathways at the Career Academies.
  • GEICC will have a booth at the Georgia State Counselors Conference in Savannah, GA on November 2-3 to build awareness about careers in energy, provide support materials for the counselors to use, and answer questions they might have.

Careers in Energy Week 2015

  • Georgia Power sent a state-wide mail-out of classroom materials to teachers that are implementing/teaching the Energy Career Pathway curriculum. The mail-out contained a letter thanking them for their implementation/teaching efforts and explaining why the energy industry needs their help. The packets contained 5 energy industry posters that the teachers can display in their classrooms. Each poster has 8-10 lesson plans that align with each poster’s theme (electricy serves our community, electrical generation, nuclear energy, electrical safety, picture yourself in an energy career). These packets were mailed to 38 Energy Career Pathway teachers throughout the state.
  • On Wednesday, October 14, Georgia Power took a lineman and COOP engineer to Burke Co High School to present to the Energy and Engineering Pathway students. Georgia Power presented to approximately 60 students. The lineman and COOP discussed their day-to-day activities, education requirements, and, of course, salaries. The students were very engaged and had lots of questions.
  • On Thursday, October 15, Georgia Power will be participating in a career fair at the Burke Co Life Center.
  • On Friday, October 16, there will be a PowerTown presentation to SGA Elementary School.
  • On Friday, October 16, Southern Nuclear is hosting a Plant Vogtle tour for the Class of 2016 and 2017 from Augusta Technical College Nuclear Engineering Technology program. About 30 students will tour the plant and construction site, visit the 3&4 simulator, and have a cook-out with Vogtle employees to learn more about careers in energy.
  • The Georgia Energy and Industrial Construction Consortium (GEICC) mailed an introductory letter and “Who We Are” information sheet to 190 school superintendents and 192 CTAE directors. Many schools have already responded, requesting additional information for use in their classrooms and counseling offices. Plans are in the works for speakers to visit several of these schools.
  • Oglethorpe Power, Jefferson Energy, and Planters EMC visited the six Energy is Fundamentals classrooms in Waynesboro, GA, to discuss the career opportunities available at these companies on August 27.
  • Georgia’s Lieutenant Governor Casey Cagle posted a College and Career Academy Student Spotlight featuring Mathew Stubbs for Careers in Energy Week.