Just as a group of six handpicked graduating seniors from Americus Sumter High School started to get quiet, Don Porter of Georgia Power asked, “how much do you think a lineman makes per hour starting out?”
The students threw some numbers out – five, ten, twelve.
The correct answer was $19 an hour. When calculated to an annual salary, the number comes out to roughly $39,000 – with a lot of room for growth. The students’ interest came back around.
The six students were handpicked by their coaches and teachers for showing leadership and discipline – qualities that Georgia Power and the electrical lineworker program at South Georgia Technical College (SGTC) look for, according to Porter.
They were picked to take a tour of the program on the college’s Americus campus and learn more about the career and get a hands-on feel for what it’s like to be a lineworker.
The students had the opportunity to sit in on a class, talk with the instructors and local Georgia Power engineers, tour the electrical lineworker skills field and climb a power pole.
“Georgia Power and the electrical lineworker program here is always looking for diversity,” Porter said to the group of students. “But diversity doesn’t just mean race and gender – it means we’re looking for people of all backgrounds. Football players, basketball players, academic leaders, people who were raised in different places … Everyone brings something different to the table, and that’s what we look for.”
The group was joined by Dr. Donald Gilman, CTAE director of Sumter County Schools, and ASHS coach Coleman Price. SGTC Vice President of Economic Development Wally Summers led the tour.
The next electrical lineworker class at SGTC will begin in August. Over 500 students have graduated from this eight-week program that has a 99 percent job placement rate. The median annual wage for electricians, line installers and repairers is between $50,000 and $60,000 per year.
For more information about the Electrical Lineworker program at South Georgia Technical College contact Tami Blount at 229-931-2141 or tblount@southgatech.edu.
