FirstEnergy Foundation Donates $200,000 to Support Pierpont Community & Technical College in Fairmont

FAIRMONT, W.Va., June 22, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The FirstEnergy Foundation will donate $200,000 over two years to help fund Pierpont Community & Technical College's new training facility to help prepare West Virginians for today's jobs.

Opened last year in the I-79 Technology Park in Fairmont, Pierpont's North Central Advanced Technology Center (ATC) houses innovative classrooms that simulate workplaces such as health clinics, manufacturing floors and electric substations.  The new center augments the programs offered at Pierpont's nearby campus shared with Fairmont State University.

FirstEnergy Foundation's grant to the Pierpont Community & Technical College Foundation will be used to sustain and update program needs at the ATC.

"We've been partnering with Pierpont for our Power Systems Institute line and substation worker training program for years, and we share their commitment to training West Virginians to succeed in today's technical workplace," said Holly Kauffman, president of FirstEnergy's West Virginia Operations.  "We want West Virginians to be first in line for the new jobs in the energy, advanced manufacturing and health and science fields being created right here at home in West Virginia."

The goal of the ATC is to provide graduates who enter the regional workforce with the education and technical skills necessary to succeed in higher wage jobs available in the medical, energy, chemical and information technology industries.  This will support local communities and aid the state's continued efforts to diversify its economy.    

Since FirstEnergy forged its PSI partnership with Pierpont in 2012, 91 PSI graduates have been hired as line or substation employees for FirstEnergy's Mon Power, Potomac Edison and West Penn Power utilities.  Students spend two-and-a-half days each week at the ATC completing academic course work with the remainder of the week spent at a Mon Power training facility in White Hall, W.Va., focusing on safe work practices and procedures in the electrical environment.

The FirstEnergy Foundation is funded solely by FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE) and provides support to non-profit, tax-exempt health and human services agencies; educational organizations; cultural and arts programs and institutions; and civic groups in areas served by FirstEnergy's 10 electric operating companies and in areas where the company conducts business.

FirstEnergy is dedicated to safety, reliability and operational excellence.  Its 10 electric distribution companies form one of the nation's largest investor-owned electric systems, serving customers in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia, Maryland and New York.  Follow FirstEnergy online at www.firstenergycorp.com.  Follow FirstEnergy on Twitter @FirstEnergyCorp.

Editor's Note:  Photos of Holly Kauffman, president of FirstEnergy's West Virginia Operations, presenting a check to representatives of Pierpont Community & Technical College to help support the new North Central Advanced Technology Center are available for download on Flickr.

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SOURCE FirstEnergy Corp.

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