Centers of Excellence Initiative to Help Local Communities
Develop a Highly Skilled Utility Workforce

The Centers of Excellence partnership's mission is to support efforts by the nation's utilities to work more effectively with community colleges and other post-secondary institutions, local high schools, other employers and local economic and workforce development organizations to produce an educated, highly-skilled workforce for the utility industry.

UBEC works through this partnership to provide support to community colleges and other post-secondary institutions in the following areas:

• Assistance in the formation of geographically-related, demand-driven relationships with electric and/or natural gas utilities



• Establishment of a formal structure for engagement with the Utility Workforce Planning Network



• Support for educational institutions in the replication and mentoring of models programs, curriculum, recruitment strategies and other programs



• Fostering of partnerships with other community colleges and training organizations to transfer best practices



• Facilitate collaboration with other Centers and experts in the field to support industry curriculum development projects, including the ongoing updating of existing curriculum standards and courses to meet changing industry needs



• Provide assistance in the development and implementation of quality control mechanisms and objectives-based evaluation criteria that meet industry certification requirements



• Help engage educational institutions with other local workforce development systems to maximize employment opportunities among non-traditional employment groups
  
  
• Build local utilities awareness of existing educational programs and tools and in efforts to determine the industry's most critical occupational needs



• Help educational institutions develop opportunities for apprenticeships and to work with utilities to provide hands-on and classroom instruction through co-op programs, internships and laboratory/facilities training



• Work with educational institutions to improve the image of the industry, including informing secondary school students, teachers, and parents about utility career opportunities and requirements.

Utility support of the Centers of Excellence community colleges and other post-secondary educational institutions serves as the foundation for the development of effective curriculum standards and certification requirements that work in concert with strong community outreach programs to build a robust local labor pipeline.