Fast Facts

• Partnership includes a company, community college, and labor union
• Two-year degree program, one-year  on-site apprenticeship
• FPL will hire/advance 20 graduates per year for ten years
• To date, 50 program graduates employed or promoted at St. Lucie Station

Apprenticeship Degree and Qualification Program: An Introduction

NextEra Energy, Inc., a major energy company, owns and operates five nuclear power plants. Florida Power & Light Company (FPL), a subsidiary of NextEra Energy, developed the Apprenticeship Degree and Qualification Program at its St. Lucie Station to help train new workers and address the problem of an aging workforce in the nuclear energy industry. 

To develop this program, FPL’s St. Lucie Station partnered with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) and Indian River State College (IRSC). These three entities are collaborating to create industry-recognized transferrable training, and to offer opportunities for new talent to enter the nuclear industry workforce. 

The Program
The three partners began collaboration in 2007, developing a model that includes a two-year degree program, followed by a year-long apprenticeship. The program was created to provide higher education specifically geared toward the technical maintenance disciplines and to cultivate a skilled worker pipeline.

The two-year degree program uses training experts, apprentice instructors from IBEW, corporate administrators and college adjunct instructors to deliver on-campus college instruction. St. Lucie Station personnel review and approve the applicable portions of this curriculum. Successful candidates earn an Applied Science Degree in Electrical Power Technology. 

The third-year apprenticeship is dedicated to providing site-specific labs and practical exercises to prepare the candidates for a career at St. Lucie Station. It is delivered almost exclusively by apprentice instructors, chosen from the bargaining unit, who undergo rigorous instructor training prior to conducting training for the candidates.

The trainees also complete classroom instruction and on-the-job training to satisfy IBEW requirements for Journeyman status. 

How the Partnership Works  
FPL has agreed, through this partnership, to hire or advance 20 program graduates per year at St. Lucie Station, for a period of ten years. The college curriculum, which includes an intensive on-site internship, satisfies a significant portion of the fundamental training requirements of the National Academy for Nuclear Training. A joint committee of St. Lucie Station and IBEW management reviews and approves curriculum, and provides oversight to the program.

Highlights of this partnership include:

• Providing long-term sustainability through hiring agreements established with the college partner and the labor union;
• Allowing St. Lucie Station to “grow its own pipeline” by targeting new workers who will have a greater propensity and incentive to stay long term with a local company;
• Offering the company the opportunity to see the students in action prior to hiring, essentially a two-year job interview; 
• Serving as a career path for individuals with roots in the community to be educated locally and become licensed operators; and
• Helping students determine if this is the right vocation for them.

Benefits
This partnership benefits Florida Power & Light, reducing recruiting costs and resulting in increased worker retention. It benefits IRSC, since the school was awarded a National Science Foundation planning grant to become a National Center for Nuclear Energy Education and Training, due to the collaborative success of the partnership. This grant allows IRSC to purchase state-of-the-art training equipment and collaborate with nuclear energy experts across the nation. Finally, it benefits IBEW because it allows incoming workers to connect with the union and receive Journeyman status.

IRSC currently serves as a pilot school for implementing the Uniform Curriculum Guide (UCG) for Nuclear Power Plant Technicians, offering students transferable skills and credits. Since IRSC curriculum-design experts and St. Lucie Station subject-matter experts developed UCG compliant curriculum for the program, graduates are equipped with transferable skills to pursue career opportunities throughout the nuclear energy industry.

Results
To date, more than 50 program graduates received employment or promotion at St. Lucie Station. An additional 60 students are currently enrolled in the Apprentice Degree and Qualification Program. 

The program continues to grow through the development and construction of a new 67,000 square foot Energy Learning Center at IRSC. This regional training center will offer an authentic training environment and will improve the performance of both new and incumbent workers. In addition, the program has led to the construction of facilities for FPL’s fossil power generation fleet and its Transmission and Distribution division.

Skills for America's Future (SAF) is a non-partisan, employer-led initiative of the Aspen Institute. It is focused on creating a national network of partnerships among employers, community colleges, industry associations and other stakeholders. These partnerships are designed to ensure that American workers receive the necessary training to meet the skill needs of employers, giving them the opporunity to obtain and keep good jobs. 

For more information about how your company can partner with community colleges and Skills for America's Future, contact Rene Bryce-Laporte at rene.bryce-laporte@aspeninst.org