The first class of students in National Grid’s Grid For Good program is graduating.
The career training program is a collaboration between 518ElevatED and the utility company designed to show participants the variety of jobs available at the company and teach them skills to fill those jobs.
Grads were honored at a ceremony at National Grid’s facility in Menands Wednesday:
518ElevatED executive director Peter Gabak says the training is key with the Capital Region’s technology economy booming.
“We are known as a STEM hub, the Tech Valley, the Eastern Corridor, so that’s something that we want to make sure that the Regenerons, that the GlobalFoundries have a built-in infrastructure,” Gabak said.
National Grid’s Patrick Stella agrees that there is intense demand for skilled workers in the field.
“With the way that energy is going, and the move towards electrification, there's a lot going on here at National Grid to prepare for that, and to make sure that the system is ready for more electric customers, less gas customers, using sustainable energy, like wind and solar and other things. We need the workforce,” Stella said.
Stella says National Grid has been making efforts to raise awareness at area schools, adding the process behind turning the lights on is more complicated than just flipping a switch.
“If you're going into operations, you know, it's not just you walk in the door, and you're on a pole the next day, you know, we have, we have a definite training program that brings our linemen and our gas workers up to speed,” Stella said.
Every meeting starts with a safety briefing — as did graduation — this one conducted by National Grid’s Rebecca Atwell, who noted the pros and cons of cell phones.
“As we go into the workforce, we want to make sure that we keep them silenced if we're in meetings, make sure that we're using them appropriately. Make sure that we're giving our number only to folks that we trust or if it's business related,” Atwell said.
While no plans for a second class between 518ElevatED and National Grid have been announced, 518Elevated treasurer Fareeza Islam Hanif says talks are under way.
“We’re evaluating the program and hopefully getting feedback from everybody. But we're really hopeful that this partnership can continue because we see it as a great benefit, both for National Grid and for 518ElevatED for the students and the local community,” Hanif said.
She says, as a 518ElevatED program graduate, being a board member is her way of giving back to a program that meant so much to her.
Quanisha Williams, from Schenectady, is a new program graduate. She says she’d never considered working for National Grid before finding out about the opportunity after seeing the poster on a wall.
“You had to write an essay to get in. And I don't remember what I wrote [in the] essay, I just wrote something about wanting to do something more with my life. And the program looked very interesting. National Grid, obviously, is a big company. So they were interested in people in my community, and I'm a person in my community, then I'm interested back in them,” Williams said.
She says receiving the email telling her she was one of the 20 selected out of an applicant pool of 60 helped raise her self-esteem.
“[It] just boost[ed] my confidence through the roof. Like, I was hand selected. And, you know, the little kid in me just remembers not getting picked for kickball, you know, like, the last one standing. So the fact that I was even picked for something had me stoked,” Williams said.
Williams says as a Black woman, she’s breaking the mold.
“All the people in the previous [518ElevatED] class look like me and look like my family members. So that was the inspiration right there, saying ‘why not? Why shouldn't we try to go after this?’” Williams said.
She says she sees herself as a pioneer in the field as National Grid ramps up future-ready electrification efforts.
“When we're working with National Grid, we're on the ground level of that, when we're old ladies in rocking chairs, and all of this way of life is all solar and electric, we'll look back and say, ‘Well, we were there when it was just gas and ash, we were there at the ground floor,’” Williams said.
Shamirre Byrd, Sr. of Troy, who also graduated Wednesday, says while he’s worked in construction before, this program made him comfortable pursuing electrical work.
He says he’s not sure of his next steps, but no matter where life leads:
“I'm hoping to fully capitalize on this experience. capitalize on the opportunities that's been laid out in front of me and getting up, dressing up, and showing up and achieving my goals,” Byrd said.
Program graduates are also given a $1,200 stipend they’re able to use as they see fit.
