Pepco this week joined Mayor Muriel Bowser at our Benning Service Center to formally launch the D.C. Infrastructure Academy, a public-private partnership providing critical skills-building and hiring opportunities for local residents in technical fields.

The Infrastructure Academy is made possible in part by a $5.2 million contribution to workforce development programs across the District as a result of our merger with Exelon. On Tuesday morning, Mayor Bowser announced an additional $500,000 contribution from Pepco for the first five years of the Academy’s operation.

As technology transforms entire industries – including the energy sector – workers are now more than ever required to be life-long learners. Additionally, Pepco believes it is crucial to hire local, diverse talent.

“We want to ensure that our customers are connected to us by more than power lines,” Dave Velazquez, president and CEO of Pepco Holdings, told those gathered for the launch Tuesday. “It’s incredibly important for us to hire from our own backyard. I always want to be able to look around our offices and see that the people who work for us live here and hail from a wide range of backgrounds and walks of life.”

Pepco has called the District home for more than 100 years, and hiring from local communities is a top priority. Now, Pepco and Exelon are directly investing to create a pipeline of talent that reflects the diversity of local communities, while also expanding opportunities for workers to have careers in high-demand fields.

“Our business view is holistic – when the communities we serve are successful, vibrant and growing, we are successful. We cannot realize that vision by simply providing power,” said Bill Von Hoene, Senior Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer for Exelon. “We must focus on developing the workforce of the future, nurturing diverse talent, providing opportunity in underserved areas and building partnerships with those who are truly making a difference. This is an example of what we want to do.”