The Power of Education: The Illuminating Company Hires Local Graduates Of Power Systems Institute At Tri-C

Four residents of Parma and Seven Hills have been hired by The Illuminating Company after graduating from its utility worker training program at Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C). 

The new hires include Ryan Juszczyk, Adam Polivka and Anthony Thielman of Parma; and Gino Barsotti of Seven Hills. 

They were among 24 graduates in the fourth class since FirstEnergy Corp. reinstituted the award-winning Power Systems Institute (PSI) training program at Tri-C in 2014. The Illuminating Company is a subsidiary of FirstEnergy.

 The two-year program combines hands-on utility skills training at an Illuminating Company facility in Brooklyn with technical coursework taught in Tri-C classrooms. Graduates earn an Associate of Technical Studies degree with a focus on electric power utility technology. 

The program is a partnership between the College and The Illuminating Company that reflects the utility’s ongoing efforts to enhance service reliability for Northeast Ohio customers.  

“Our PSI program develops top-quality, well-educated men and women for the electric utility industry,” said Mark A. Jones, regional president of The Illuminating Company. “We look forward to these graduates joining our workforce to help continue providing safe and reliable electric service for our customers.” 

FirstEnergy introduced the PSI in 2000 to prepare the company’s next generation of utility line and substation workers. Programs were established at colleges throughout the company’s six-state service area, including Tri-C. 

Since the program’s inception, FirstEnergy has hired more than 2,000 line and substation personnel who completed PSI programs in Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. 

For information on the program, visit firstenergycorp.com/psi or call 800-829-6801.