Careers. Opportunity. Local investment. That’s what Pepco makes possible as we deliver on our commitment to support and build the workforce in and around the communities we serve. Perhaps nowhere is that more evident than through the opening of the D.C. Infrastructure Academy – a tangible sign of the benefits from Pepco and parent company Exelon’s continued partnership with the District of Columbia.
To mark the completion of the facility located in the District’s southeast corridor, Exelon’s Senior Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer Bill Von Hoene and Pepco Holdings’ President and CEO David Velazquez joined District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser and other prominent leaders to cut the ribbon and officially open the new educational facility.
“We all know how important good jobs are to the well-being of our communities,” said Von Hoene. “We also know how important education and technical training are in the quest for so many of those good jobs. That’s what this facility is all about, but it is also about creating an opportunity for families to flourish and for dreams to be realized.”
The Infrastructure Academy will focus on occupational skills training and work-based learning initiatives related to the infrastructure industry, including the utility, energy efficiency, transportation, and logistics sectors. Through this program, District residents will be able to access career counseling and planning; resume assistance; direct job placement; and information about local and regional infrastructure jobs and apprenticeships.
Our support of the Infrastructure Academy will create a pipeline for in-demand infrastructure jobs for District residents. Hundreds of District residents will receive training to develop skills needed to work in areas that will remain critical to the energy industry for years to come, along with other industries that are essential to supporting the hundreds of thousands of people who live and work in this region.
“Pepco is a local company that is only as strong as the communities we serve,” said Velazquez. “We want to create pathways for long-term, viable opportunities for anyone who calls the District ‘home.’ The Infrastructure Academy is designed to do exactly that. Of all the things since we have completed the merger two years ago with Exelon, this is the one that I am most proud of.”
Exelon and Pepco have contributed $5.2 million toward the D.C. Infrastructure Academy and the support of workforce development programs. Pepco has also provided an additional $500,000 in cash contributions, donated human resources, equipment, and other in-kind materials and services over the first five years of the Academy’s operation.
“You heard from David Velazquez and Bill Von Hoene from Pepco and Exelon who are our partners in also helping to underground wires throughout the District. They are always involved in hardening our system and making it more reliable,” said Mayor Bowser. “The thing about having 700,000 people and growing – they all have iPads and iPhones. It turns out they like to use a lot of electricity, so we have to prepare for a growing city.”
Operated by the D.C. Department of Employment Services and the administration of D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, Exelon and Pepco have committed to work with stakeholders to ensure that the D.C. Infrastructure Academy is a success.