IVCCD Bestows Ambassador of the Year Award to Alliant Energy
During the Iowa Valley Community College District All Staff Day, held August 17 at Marshalltown Community College, the District recognized several individuals that have contributed to the success of the campus communities.
Pictured, L to R: Keith Jones, Lori Wildman, Kyle Kusserow, Erin Miller
IVCCD President Dr. Kristie Fisher presented the awards as follows:
Ambassador of the Year: The Ambassador of the Year Awards are designed to recognize community members or organizations that have represented IVCCD’s Core Values through their service or accomplishments that have directly benefited IVCCD and/or its students.
Ambassador of the Year Award to Alliant Energy
The award nomination read, in part, “Alliant’s commitment to building strong communities and strengthening them shows in almost every aspect of the company. Alliant Energy recognizes the importance of accessing the incoming workforce pipeline of youth and introducing them to work-based learning opportunities. Alliant partnered with Iowa Valley Continuing Education to provide an Intro to Energy Basics online course to Iowa juniors and seniors. The program was piloted in 2021 and was so successful that it went statewide in 2022. The online program was developed to offer an overview of the energy/utility industry and to encourage students in this incredible career path. Students who complete the program have the opportunity to apply for a summer internship with Alliant. Some students who have completed this path have been so enticed by the employment opportunities they’ve chosen to continue their education and have entered the MCC Utility program.
Training opportunities don’t stop there with Alliant. They continue to grow students by adding another quality learning experience into the next phase, a Pre-Apprenticeship program was developed called Utility fundamentals which is an overview training program that takes Intro to Energy Basics and dives a little deeper into the Utility Industry. This program starts in person with hands-on learning for a full two weeks followed by continued virtual training for the Utility Fundamentals programs as well as on-site on-the-job training for those identified pre-apprentices.
The training does not stop once they are employed with Alliant. Alliant is also involved heavily with the Continuing Education department in working through the Iowa Jobs Training Program (260F), and the Industrial New Jobs Training program (260E). Alliant’s belief in lifelong learning and growing their company within shows true dedication to their employees. This program allows Alliant to help train current employees with new skills so they can continue to serve the company and the community. Alliant is able to remain competitive and maximize its current employees’ skills and productivity.
Alliant Energy continues to share Iowa Valley’s mission by their willingness to partner on training opportunities, sharing with other employers the innovative training ideas we’ve been able to implement together, or just being open to collaboration.
Accepting the award from Alliant Energy are Keith Jones, Senior Gas Training Coordinator, Kyle Kusserow – Manager of Customer Operations/IPL Technical Training, Erin Miller – Senior Manager IPL Operations Performance and Strategy, Lori Wildman – Alliant Energy, Training Specialist for Iowa.