The Illuminating Company Hires New Graduates from FirstEnergy’s Power Systems Institute Training Program

AKRON, Ohio – The Illuminating Company, a subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE), has hired 17 new graduates from the Power Systems Institute (PSI), the company’s award-winning, two-year educational program that helps train the next generation of line and substation workers for FirstEnergy’s 10 electric companies.

The new employees include 10 line workers and seven substation electricians who are recent graduates of the company’s PSI training partnership with Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C) in Cleveland and Stark State College in Canton.

"For 20 years, our PSI program has strengthened our diverse workforce pipeline and instilled safe work practices, proper work methods and teambuilding by developing the well-educated men and women needed to provide reliable power to customers,” said Mark A. Jones, regional president of The Illuminating Company. “We welcome these graduates who join our workforce to help continue providing safe and reliable electric service to communities in Northeast Ohio.”

The Illuminating Company’s new PSI graduates include:

• Ryan Coleman, Wellington
• Jaimie Nagel, Avon
• Jacob Willkom, Brunswick
• Tyler Hackleman, Chesterland
• Andrew Leone, Hudson
• Travis Synnestvedt, Mantua
• Dominic Tomazic, Grafton
• Douglas Tomsic, Oberlin

The PSI curriculum requires two and a half days each week spent between the college and The Illuminating Company’s training facility in Brooklyn for hands-on learning that focuses on safe work practices and procedures in the electrical environment.

PSI was originally developed by FirstEnergy in 2000. Students who successfully complete the program earn an associate degree from an affiliated community college in their area. 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 about the PSI program, call 1-800-829-6801, or go to www.firstenergycorp.com/psi.

The Illuminating Company serves more than 750,000 customers across Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake and Lorain counties. Follow The Illuminating Company on Twitter @IlluminatingCo and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/IlluminatingCo.

FirstEnergy Corp. is dedicated to integrity, 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. The company’s transmission subsidiaries operate approximately 24,000 miles of transmission lines that connect the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic regions. Follow FirstEnergy online at www.firstenergycorp.com. Follow FirstEnergy and its utilities on Twitter @FirstEnergyCorp, @ToledoEdison, @IlluminatingCo, @OhioEdison, @MonPowerWV, @JCP_L, @Penn_Power, @Penelec, @Met_Ed, @PotomacEdison, @W_Penn_Power.

Editor’s Note: Photos of FirstEnergy Power Systems Institute graduates are available for download on Flickr.