York Technical College Utility Line Worker Students Showcase Skills

Ten students from York Technical College’s Utility Line Worker Program exhibited their technical and climbing skills during a showcase event held Nov. 7 at the College’s state-of-the-art Chester Center.

The event provided an opportunity for students enrolled in the line worker program to show-off their skills and talents to local employers and community stakeholders in a safe mini-rodeo setting. High school and adult education students from Clover and Rock Hill School Districts were also in attendance.

“This event was a great opportunity for our students in the Utility Line Worker Program to show off the knowledge they’ve acquired in equipment repair, service and rescue abilities,” said Martin Johnson, Department Chair of Industrial Trades at York Tech. “We also welcomed prospective students who are interested in pursuing a career as a line worker and they were able to make connections.”

Johnson, along with Industrial Trades Instructor David Ross, led the students in each of the exercises they performed, including pole top rescue, hot stick fuse change-out, speed climb and single phase pole top insulator change out, among others.

“It was good getting to meet all of the different companies and being able to show them what we’ve learned so far,” said Joseph Hembree, a current student line worker who participated in the showcase.

Hembree, a 20 year-old York Tech student from Spartanburg, S.C., said his aspirations of becoming a line worker stem from wanting to be outdoors and make a good living.

York Tech offers three Utility Line Worker credit programs, a basic utility line worker certificate, advanced utility line worker certificate and an Associate of Applied Science in Management with a specialization in utility line worker.

Upon completion of the one of the line worker programs, students can work in a variety of positions that include telecommunications, water, sewer, information technology infrastructure and electrical utilities. Earlier this year, the College relocated its line worker program with the support of a grant from the Duke Energy.

The College is proud to boast a 100% job placement rate of graduates from its previous line worker program completion. Going forward, plans are underway to host a Utility Line Worker Showcase at the conclusion of each cohort.

For more information about our program, visit yorktech.edu/major/utility-line-worker.