b'Additionally, WECA thanks the Utah apprenticeshipcommunity and electrical industry for their welcome.Over the past several months Talon and I have had theopportunity to work closely with several of the other Utahelectrical apprenticeship and training programs,contractors, and educators, said Hall. Were grateful for thewelcome weve received and look forward to contributingto and being part of training the future electrical workforcein Utah. It was also great to get the opportunity to attendthe Apprenticeship Utah Summit and Apprenticeship JobFair in November 2022.WECA looks forward to hosting an Open House andRibbon-Cutting Ceremony for the new Salt Lake CityTraining Facility on April 12, 2023.Cody Eaton, Operations Manager of Hunt Electric, spoke tothe states workforce development needs, saying Too fewpeople looking to start a career today are familiar with thebenefits of working as an electrician. Encouraging newapplicants to pursue this lucrative and rewarding career thatdoesnt require taking on student loan debt to get startedcan give them a promising future. It also benefits the industryby replacing an aging workforce with new talent.WECAs newest training facility, located in Woods Cross,serves apprentices in the greater Salt Lake City region as wellas the entire state of Utah. WECA registered its first Utahcommercial electrical apprenticeship class in January 2023,and held its first day of class for our inaugural cohort of firstyear, first semester Commercial Electrical apprentices. Don Black, WECA Apprentice Training, IT, and FacilitiesDirector, applauded Utah Apprenticeship Manager and LeadInstructor Talon Pobuda for working tirelessly to get thefacility and the program ready, and also credited CarolynBlack, Lab and Facilities Technician, with preparing thetraining aids for the program and Christine Hall, Director ofOperations, with making sure that the apprentices wereready to be successful in their new training and career.Countless other WECA staff were also instrumental in makingthe WECA Utah Commercial Electrical ApprenticeshipProgram and new training facility a reality, and appreciatesall the support from Utah Founding Member ContractorHunt Electric.'