PowerStream President and CEO Brian Bentz, along with members of his senior management team, met with more than 100 Georgian College Engineering Technology students on Jan. 22 in Alumni Hall, Barrie Campus.

The mentorship program was designed to advise students on the education, skills and experience needed to plug into careers at electric utilities.

With many retirements on the horizon for Ontario electric utilities, there will be an extraordinary number of job opportunities available in this growth industry in the next few years. The vast majority of them will require post-secondary education.

PowerStream partnered with Georgian in 2009 to offset a predicted skills shortage in the electric utilities sector. PowerStream made a $750,000 donation to the Centre for Sustainable Technologies, home to utilities-focused programs such as Power Engineering Technician and Power Engineering Technology.

At a time when many industries are in decline, opportunities at electric utilities for rewarding, solid-paying jobs are growing.

“Having this type of opportunity to interact with Georgian students who one day may come to work at PowerStream, either on a co-op placement or after graduation, is truly invaluable to us,” said Bentz. “We get to showcase our company and the various career opportunities we have to offer and, at the same time, learn from the students as to what is important to them as potential future PowerStream employees.”

The event included a panel discussion and an opportunity for students to have one-on-one conversations with senior PowerStream employees.

PHOTO: PowerStream President and CEO Brian Bentz talks with a Georgian Engineering Technology student during a mentoring event at the Barrie Campus.