This award will honor one consortium annually for their programming and outreach to create and build awareness for energy careers within the state or region, support for members within the area, and involvement in CEWD supported programs.

Entries will be evaluated on evidence of dedication to creating awareness of careers in energy while exhibiting strength in community, collaboration, and partnership through the state or region represented by the consortia. Demonstration of thoughtful, impactful, and intentional strategic initiatives accomplishments are expected.

Past Energy Workforce Consortia Game Changer Award Winners

2023 Energy Workforce Consortia Game Changer Award

Scholarships Help Build Energy Careers in Georgia

Developing solutions to satisfy workforce demands in the energy industry takes a group effort. 

That’s how the Georgia Energy and Industrial Construction Consortium (GEICC) started in 2007. Its members wanted to work together to engage and recruit a skilled workforce for electric, nuclear, natural gas utilities and energy industry construction companies’ present and future needs. 

But connecting with a widely diverse workforce in the state takes some special initiatives that can bring the community together for the effort. 

One such initiative – the Georgia Energy and Industrial Construction Consortium (GEICC) scholarship program is financially supported by the GEICC annual Golf Tournament. And it’s in its eighth year. Last year, the program enjoyed its largest class to date with 290 applications resulting in 30 winners of $2,000 scholarships toward STEM-related fields. 

And the program won GEICC the 2022 Energy Consortium Game Changer Award from the Center for Energy Workforce Development, which honors one consortium annually for their programming and outreach to create and build awareness for energy careers within the state.

Angie Farsee

The GEICC’s Beginnings

GEICC was formed to help member companies work together to develop solutions to meet the coming workforce demands in the industry. It is the first partnership in Georgia between utilities, their associations, contractors and organized labor to focus on the need to build a skilled workforce pipeline that will meet future industry needs.

The GEICC includes member representatives from investor-owned, municipal and electric cooperatives, contractors to Georgia’s energy industry, energy and contractor associations, state workforce development, education and organized labor. 

In addition, GEICC has established partnerships with state education and workforce associations and organizations to leverage resources for existing and new initiatives. GEICC is also working with secondary and post-secondary educational institutions and the public workforce system to create workable solutions to address the need for a qualified, diverse workforce.

“We wanted it to be representative of all entities and help promote awareness of jobs in our industry,” explains Angie Farsee, treasurer and founding member of the GEICC and vice president of human resources at the Georgia Transmission Corporation. “From that standpoint, we look at workforce investment boards, state government, education, trades and industrial construction partners, as well as utility providers. It’s a meeting of a bunch of minds. We welcome everyone to this table.”

Building a Program for Change

The GEICC Golf Tournament has been running for 13 years, and it’s grown from word-of-mouth in the neighborhood. The event happens each year in May. 

“We can count on a lot of organizations and members who have been participants in the past to participate again,” Farsee says. 

Over time, increasing the different types and levels of sponsorship have enabled more people to become involved. “For companies that have participated many years, it just makes more sense to have different options for them,” Farsee explains. 

Sponsorship opportunities range from a platinum level at $5,000 that includes a company logo on signage, two foursomes and two hole sponsorships to a $750 foursome-only sponsorship. Other sponsorship options include a golf cart sponsorship at $2,500, a beverage cart sponsorship at $1,500, a breakfast sponsorship at $1,500 and a hole sponsorship at $400. 

In 2022, the GEICC Golf Tournament raised more than $35,000 for the GEICC Scholarship Program. This enabled the consortium to award $60,000 in scholarships to students with an average GPA of 3.8. The scholarship recipients are pursuing careers in a variety of STEM fields and attending schools primarily within Georgia. 

The money is awarded based on specific criteria. They must be high school seniors in the state of Georgia pursuing a secondary education in the STEM field. They must have a GPA of 2.5 or higher and submit a transcript of their high school career. And scholarships are given without regard to race, sex, creed, national origin or disability. 

The 2022 class included 30 percent women and 30 percent of scholarship winners from a diverse background.  “It’s important as an organization that we can give talent around the state an opportunity to receive a scholarship,” Farsee emphasizes. “Hearing from the student recipients, we know the program has had some positive meaning and impact on their careers.”

How can other consortia improve their workforce development initiatives in the same way as the GEICC has? Farsee says, “You can’t eat the whole elephant; you must take one bite at a time. You can run up against some challenges if you try to do too much too fast and without the right people in place. It’s best to tackle one piece at a time and have small victories along the way.”

2021 Energy Workforce Consortia Game Changer Award

2020 Energy Workforce Consortia Game Changer Award