Award Recognizes Utility’s Success With PowerPathway™ Program
SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) received the Faraday Award, which
recognizes its successes with the PowerPathway™
program, during the 18th annual Electric Power Conference in
Chicago Tuesday afternoon (April 21). The award honors corporations
who’ve successfully connected, employed and engaged veterans to become
long-term employees in the power industry.
“PowerPathway has been successful because we’ve worked well together
with non-profit workforce development organizations and local colleges.
We’re very proud of what we’ve done to direct veterans and long-term
unemployed Americans into careers, not just jobs. PowerPathway is one
way PG&E is building the workforce that will help power California’s
future,” said PG&E Senior Vice President of Human Resources John Simon.
PG&E’s PowerPathway is a nationally recognized workforce development
program that aligns with various lines of business to create a qualified
and sustainable pipeline of candidates for PG&E and the utility industry
through public-private collaborations. Since the program’s inception six
years ago in 2008, 600 people—including 300 veterans—have graduated with
more than 80 percent having been hired by PG&E or the utility industry.
PowerPathway is just one of the ways PG&E has supported workforce and
economic development initiatives which touch long-term unemployed
Americans, small and diverse business owners and military veterans. It’s
all part of the utility’s commitment to investing in a workforce that
will keep California—and America—at the forefront of the 21st
century economy.
PowerPathway and PG&E’s work with getting unemployed veterans back to
work has been acknowledged and backed in various ways:
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During a visit to a PowerPathway training class in Oakland on April
10, Vice
President Joe Biden recognized how the program has set “the
framework for a lot of other big companies, not just utility
companies” for workforce development.
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Last year, PG&E conducted two PowerPathway programs in California’s
Fresno region, focusing on long-term unemployed veterans.
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PG&E’s support of the Workforce
Innovation and Opportunity Act has benefited successful
public/private partnership training programs, like PowerPathway, by
allowing these partnerships to apply for federal funding to enhance
the opportunities to provide trainees the skills employers need.
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PowerPathway was featured by the National
Journal in a series of stories last year about programs
trying to tackle America’s unemployment crisis.
This is the second year the Electric Power Conference has given the
Faraday Award. The award was created in collaboration with Prequalified
Ready Employees for Power (PREP Intl) to celebrate success stories in
hiring veterans into the power industry.
About PG&E
Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a subsidiary of PG&E
Corporation (NYSE:PCG), is one of the largest combined natural gas
and electric utilities in the United States. Based in San Francisco,
with more than 20,000 employees, the company delivers some of the
nation’s cleanest energy to nearly 16 million people in Northern and
Central California. For more information, visit www.pge.com
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Source: Pacific Gas and Electric Company