Alabama Power retiree helps ‘Jump Start’ trade careers
Alabama Power retiree Mark White (right) talks with John Hubbard, owner of Hubbard Flooring, about the new Skilled Trades of West Alabama Apprenticeship Program in Tuscaloosa. The goal of the program is to increase Alabama's qualified candidates for good-paying jobs in the trades: electricians, HVAC technicians and plumbers. (Nik Layman / Alabama NewsCenter)
It took Alabama Power retiree Mark White about six years to really get into retirement, spending time at the hunting club and doing whatever else he wanted.
That all changed in 2020, when his longtime friend, Gary Phillips, called White for assistance.
The owner and president of Premier Service Co., Phillips, an electrical contractor, had started an in-house apprenticeship program for plumbers, electricians and HVAC technicians. Phillips wanted to take the program throughout west Alabama.
“Gary needed some help getting the idea off the ground,” said White, who knew about apprenticeships after working on an Alabama Power line crew. To that end, White and Phillips met for months, putting “all the pieces together.”
Mark White uses Alabama Power experience to give apprentices a Jump Start from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.
White and Phillips recognized Alabama’s ever-increasing need for the trades: Indeed, industrial companies coming to Yellowhammer State seek a skilled work force and credentials. That need compelled them to create the Skilled Trades of West Alabama Apprenticeship Program, a 501(c)(3) organization. The Alabama Power Foundation provided a grant in support of the school.
The new apprenticeship program is registered with the Alabama Office of Apprenticeship and the U.S. Department of Labor, stationed in the former Tuscaloosa Center for Technology building.
It was natural that Phillips would call White, an Air Force veteran who has much technical experience. During his 40-year career at Alabama Power, White was a lineman and served in several supervisory roles in Field Services. Before his retirement, White was one of the first Operations supervisors in the company’s Western Division Distribution Operations Center in Tuscaloosa.
Nearly 3 years later, White serves as the program director for the new apprenticeship program.
“We got all of our plans together and right in the middle of COVID, in September 2020, we opened the doors,” said White, who retired from Alabama Power in 2013. “We were up and running, with 64 apprentices attending night classes.”
White has enjoyed helping to galvanize the program, but his real satisfaction comes from seeing people’s lives change.
“It’s been great, it’s been a lot of fun,” said White, who is an active member of Energizers, the retiree service organization of Alabama Power, Southern Company and Southern Nuclear Co. “It’s good to see some of these guys who haven’t been doing that much since getting out of high school – going from one no-good-paying job to the next – to come in here. Last year, we had seven graduates who obtained their plumbing license or electrical license.”
Offering a path to gainful employment
On Jan. 4, in coordination with Tuscaloosa City Schools, 30 high school seniors began Jump Start training that will allow them to enter the trades. This winter, 15 Tuscaloosa high school students will attend during morning and 15 students during afternoon. All instructors are tradesmen and experts in their fields.
“Teachers who instruct the night classes are still working, sharing what they’ve learned over the years with these kids,” White said. “Before, the school system didn’t have a pathway to employment for students they knew weren’t going to college. We created this Jump Start program to equip these guys and girls with the training they need to get hired. Once they’re hired and working, they can continue their education to work toward their licensing and credentials.”
White has received many calls and inquiries from young people who want to attend the program. To qualify as an apprentice, a candidate must work for about three years with a licensed contractor to get the required on the job training hours to qualify to take Alabama’s state licensing exam.
“To get someone hired, we’ve got to ensure that they are ‘head and shoulders’ above someone who walks in off the street,” White said. The training is for men and women who are at least 18 years old. The 10-week class is held two nights a week, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.
During that time, students learn construction math, including taking measurements and reading blueprints. They are introduced to power and hand tools; earn OSHA 10 certification; become certified in first aid and CPR; and get an operator’s card for scissor lifts.
White is thrilled that young people are training for the trades. (Nik Layman / Alabama NewsCenter)
Those credentials and training allow students to get jobs with the contractors that work with Jumpstart. Once the students get employed and are working in one of the trades, they can return for the apprenticeship program, to begin working on their credentials and licenses.
“We’ve had almost 200 students go through the program, and about half are successful or are working in one of the trades,” White said. “We furnish all the tools they need to get started, and we give them a pair of work boots so they’re ready to go to work.”
The cost to attend the apprenticeship program is $10 weekly, which covers the cost of learning materials. The Jumpstart training program is free.
“The beautiful part of that is, if you come in at year one as an apprentice, complete it and come back for your second year, you get your $520 back,” he said. “Essentially, if you return every year, it’s free. It’s about a three-year program.”
It costs upward of $15,000 or more to attend a two-year electrical technology course at some colleges. At completion, students earn a certificate, but they’re still unemployed. White noted that many Jumpstart candidates from two-year colleges “want to get on with things” without spending years on academics.
“The end game – No. 1 – is to get you hired, get you working in a trade and making a living, and the second is to help you get whatever credentials it will take for you to further you career, either a plumbing or electrical license or HVAC technician certification,” White said. “We don’t stop with just getting you a job – we want to take you as far as we can take you.”
This article was originally published in Powergrams, Alabama Power’s employee magazine.
