Telegram - Serving Metropolitan Detroit Since 1944

In 2021, DTE Energy and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 17 partnered with the office of Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, Focus: HOPE, and Detroit at Work to launch a first-of-its-kind Tree Trim Academy to create high-paying jobs for metro Detroiters. Over the past two years, the program has graduated more than 100 tree trimmers and a majority of those graduates have continued with IBEW's Line Clearance Tree Trimming (LCTT) Apprenticeship Program, a roughly two-year/2,000 hour program which will enable participants to obtain journeyman status in LCTT. "We're really interested in building a tree trimming workforce that reflects our Michigan communities," explains Elizabeth Durham, Senior Communication Strategist for DTE Energy. "And some are hired and work on DTE properties, we've also had folks that are doing apprenticeships as gas techs, and some have jumped over to be a lineman, so we've had folks move into different career paths, but almost exclusively careers in energy."

The idea behind developing a tree trim training program began several years ago when DTE leadership began to recognize that they were importing tree trimming teams from out of state and that no such training program existed in Michigan. The first training classes began in April 2021.

Graduates currently apprentice in IBEW's LCTT Program with DTE vendors including Davey Tree, Wright Tree Service and Asplundh. They work alongside experienced mentors as they attain journeyman status. "They start out at $60-$70,000 a year," says Durham. "You start receiving union benefits within 500 hours of your apprenticeship, full union benefits for you and your family, and most of these guys are working overtime. So it is an enviable job."

In June, DTE and IBEW will be offering the course once again and will graduate the 2023 class of tree trimmers and a process for recruiting interested individuals is going on now. But Durham warns that this is not necessarily a job for just anyone. The work is physically demanding and involves working high up in the trees in close proximity to electric lines and working in all types of weather. "But for the people that have graduated the academy and are in the field, it has changed their lives. So far, one-hundred percent of our graduates have received job offers," she says.

Photo courtesy of DTE Energy

Students at DTE's Tree Trim Academy will learn to navigate around power lines to keep the power flowing to DTE customers.

The DTE/IBEW Tree Trim Academy runs seven weeks and involves no cost for attendees. Students will learn career readiness skills including personal finances and computer literacy, customer service skills, training for truck driving and a Class B commercial driver license (CDL), along with CDL testing, tree identification, basic safety, knot tying, and equipment handling. Students will receive a $50 per day stipend for the first two weeks, then $100 per day stipend after that. Successful trainees receive Woodsman status and will earn $15 per hour once placed with a vendor. After gaining some experience, graduates can move into IBEW's LCTT Apprenticeship Program and earn $28 per hour. Focus: HOPE plays a role to provide wrap-around services and supports that some students may need, including transportation or child care.

"There is a lot of opportunity in the arborist/vegetation management side of things," says Durham. "We have a really great, stable, union, in-demand energy job and we've opened our doors, please come and be a tree trimmer."

Anyone interested in the DTE Tree Trim Academy can find out more and apply at http://www.empoweringmichigan.com/tree-trim-academy/. Detroit residents can also apply at http://www.detroitatwork.com/tree-trim-academy.