Published: November 18, 2009 11:36 pm      

Line workers featured on license plate

Grayson — Starting in February the car in front of you might have a license plate depicting in silhouette two helmeted workers perched on a utility pole.

The plates were commissioned by Grayson Rural Electric as a way of promoting training for line workers, and $5 of the fee from each plate will go to three community colleges to support line worker training programs.

The electric cooperative’s board dreamed up the plates as part of a campaign to beef up the ranks of line workers. Many current workers are of the baby boom generation and will be retiring in the coming decade, leaving a shortage in the industry, said board member Kenneth Arrington.

So the cooperative designated Ashland Community and Technical College and two others in the Kentucky Community and Technical College System as recipients of the $5 surcharge on the plates.

The colleges will use the money to purchase supplies for their training programs, said Rick Burnette, division chairman for manufacturing, transportation and industrial technology.

That will include safety supplies as well as wire and other hardware, he said.

Once trained, line workers have good job prospects, Burnette said. The industry anticipates ranks of line workers to be reduced by up to 50 percent by 2015. Median wage for the occupation is around $22 per hour.

To produce the plates, the state requires at least 900 preorders. The company has received 917, said member services secretary Julie Lewis.

Those preordering include line workers, retirees, family members, contractors and others in the electric industry, Lewis said.

The plates will be available for them to pick up in February and the state will make more if there is a demand.

MIKE JAMES can be reached at mjames@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2652.