In opening its doors to the Boys & Girls Club on March 13, Tampa Electric opened doors to a world of career possibilities for 41 middle school- and high school-aged children.
The visitors got a close-up look at several TECO departments, including the Energy Control Center, the Skills Training Center and other areas. And while it might not have been an experience typical of spring break, it perhaps was much, much more.
“It was a great opportunity to present potential, to show the youths who they can be and what they can do at TECO from a career perspective,” said Karen Mincey, vice president of Information Technology & Telecommunications, and chief information officer. She’s also a member of the Boys & Girls Club board.
“I’m hopeful that at least some of them will be future TECO team members,” she added.
Michele Arevalo, director of Network Engineering & Operations with IT&T, coordinated the Boys & Girls Club’s visit, setting up tours for the youths from Ed Mora, manager of Grid Operations with the ECC; Steve Dosal, manager of Energy Delivery, Safety, Training and Environmental; and others.
“I’ve been with TECO for 30 years, and it was great to be able to share with the Boys & Girls Club members that even if you join the company in an entry-level position, you can go as high up the ladder as you want to with this company,” Arevalo said.
Dosal agreed, touting the importance of staying in school and earning a degree.
“In addition to talking to the group about the power system and electrical safety, I talked about TECO’s commitment to continuing education for team members – and I stressed to them that anyone can make a darn good living in a whole range of roles here,” he said.
Between the extensive knowledge the visitors showed about things like computers and their probing questions for their hosts about TECO, Arevalo said she ended the experience with an impression of smart and capable future members of the workforce.
“It was obvious how interested they were about TECO; this was an enlightened group. They’re already thinking about the future – and it’s so great that TECO could play a part in that.”
Michael G. Watkins
That’s great, is the company planning on doing that again ? Was this ever announced ? I have grandkids who goes to
the Boy’s and Girls Club, who would have been interested in attending. If this is done again could you please e-mail the information. Thanks.