Nicor career academy gives grads 'peace of mind and stability'

Wesley Strickland's career path involved a lot of bouncing around before he came to Nicor - jumping from one school or job to another or balancing multiple at a time.

Now it involves a lot of walking, yet more stability, the 27-year-old Lisle native says.

Strickland is one of 21 graduates in the first cohort of the Nicor Gas Career Academy, and since Dec. 3, he's been employed as a Nicor meter reader.

He's learned the most efficient ways to complete long routes of up to 600 meters a day; the importance of wearing watertight shoes, staying hydrated and packing pepper spray for aggressive dogs; and the locations of the best beef and burger joints in his territory. And he's learned the value of working in an industry he says has staying power.

"I really enjoy working with my hands, and Nicor gives you that peace of mind and stability that you can finish a career here," Strickland said. "This, I can depend on."

The utility's career academy launched last year as a free workforce education program designed to help fill positions expected to be vacated by retirees.

Nearly half the energy workforce will retire within the next 10 years, according to the Center for Energy Workforce Development. So the academy works to transfer on-the-job knowledge from experienced Nicor employees to new ones, spokeswoman Jennifer Golz said.

Strickland completed the six-week program last September and was hired by the company less than three months later.

"I started in December, so layer up," he said, describing his work attire. His knees took some time to adjust to a job he says is "pretty much like hiking all day."

And after eight months, Strickland is getting accustomed to training for a higher position as a utility specialist.

Nicor is working on a meter modernization project that by the end of 2020 is expected to change out all 2.2 million meters in its 650-community distribution area, Golz said. The new meters will transmit automatic readings.

"This will give more accurate data and timely energy usage information to our customers," Golz said.

But automatic transmission will remove the need for the entry-level workers like Strickland to serve as meter readers.

So as Nicor employees like Hector Rivas, an upgrade installer, switch out meters and install modules to transmit readings, meter readers like Strickland tag along to observe and learn.

On Wednesday, Rivas showed Strickland the five-minute process of removing an old module, then attaching and activating a new one on the side of a brick house in Addison.

Hopping out of his company SUV, Rivas brought a bucket for garbage and a box containing the new module up to the home, notified the owner, then made the switch. The longest part of the process, he explained to Strickland, can be getting a mini computer called a Trimble to connect to Wi-Fi to activate the module.

After shadowing Rivas on the job, Strickland said he's open to see where a Nicor career can take him. He has skills in graphic design and broadcasting from an associate degree he earned at College of DuPage and an interest in voice acting and stand-up comedy. And from the career program he completed last fall, he says he has an appreciation of the clean energy market.

"It gave me a good overview of how natural gas works in Illinois," he said.

Nicor plans to continue the career academy, with a new group starting classes Sept. 30. For details about the program, visit nicorgas.com/CareersInEnergy.