Forsyth Tech Receives National Accreditation as Electrical Lineman Training and Education Facility

Pike Enterprises Partners with College to

Provide NCCER-Credentialed Program

"Forsyth Tech has received accreditation from the National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER) in Florida designating the college as an Electrical Lineman Accredited Training and Education Facility, the only one in North Carolina.

Pike Enterprises will serve as industry sponsor for Forsyth Tech’s program and provide a master trainer as part of the certification agreement.

“We have worked hard over the past four years to build a high-quality electrical lineman training program to meet employer demands,” says Bill Adams, director of Occupational Extension in Forsyth Tech’s Economic & Workforce Development Division. “The NCCER designation validates our hard work and provides our students with a real plus—a national, industry-recognized credential they can leverage to their advantage when applying for jobs and in the workplace.”

Forsyth Tech’s electrical lineman training program, which is offered at the college’s center in King, has been using NCCER’s curriculum for the past year, according to Adams. In order to receive the national accreditation, the college had to add three instructional days to each of the five sessions offered throughout the year, extending each session to nine weeks and increasing the number of training hours per session from 264 to 288.

The training program is offered twice in the fall and spring and once in the summer and has a class maximum of 24 students per session. The college administers the program with the support of two full-time and six part-time instructors, all of whom are NCCER-Certified Instructors.

One of the benefits of the national certification is that the names of students who take and pass the test are automatically entered into a National Registry that employers across the country can access and immediately verify those who have passed.

“Many students in these classes are from Forsyth and Stokes counties,” Adams says. “But, the popularity of these classes is spreading around the region. We’re seeing students coming to us from as far away as Virginia and Tennessee. There are jobs for our students after they graduate, provided they are willing to relocate. Pike has hired about half of our grads since our training program began.”

“The Pike Company will always have a need for new employees who have had enough training in the industry to start a new career and who fully understand what's expected of them in their future as a lineman,” said Donald Anderson, operations VP at Pike Electric, addressing the quality of Forsyth Tech’s training.

Forsyth Tech’s Electrical Lineman Training program is available to qualified state residents at no cost through the state’s Back to Work program. Back to Work is a short-term training program designed to train unemployed North Carolinians for employment and new careers.

The next nine-week Electrical Lineman Training session begins on March 17."
Submitted Press Release