Ameren Missouri and Job Point partner to help students explore new career paths

Students explored new opportunities during tour of Ameren Missouri facility

As students in Job Point's YouthBuild program work toward earning their high school equivalency certificate and learning a skilled trade, they also have the opportunity to explore a wide variety of career paths. Recently, Job Point partnered with Ameren Missouri to provide students in their YouthBuild and Skills Training programs access to the company's natural gas operations and training facility in Columbia, Missouri. The behind-the-scenes-tour gave students the opportunity to witness firsthand what it takes to be successful in the energy industry.

Since 1965, Job Point has strived to link people to jobs providing career planning and job placements assistance.

“We are so thankful for the opportunity to share this experience with our students — many of them have no idea how their utilities work or where it all comes from,” said Carrie Brown, manager of Job Point’s YouthBuild. “Going into it, we weren’t sure how engaged the students would be with something so different, but they asked questions the whole way through and walked away feeling good about the day. Some even started thinking about how this experience could play into their career objectives down the road.”

Throughout the tour, Ameren Missouri team members shared their extensive knowledge of the natural gas industry and answered countless questions from the students. For many of the participants, this was their first experience learning about the utility industry.

“Our partnership with Job Point extends back many years so we were excited to give them a first-hand look at the complex tasks our natural gas crews perform,” said Pam Harrison, senior director of gas operations for Ameren Missouri. “We put great emphasis on safety in our demonstrations, from how we respond to natural gas leaks to lighting natural gas appliances and other aspects of the job.”

After the tour, students walked away with a better understanding of how their utilities function and the career prospects that exist within the industry. For some, it was also a learning opportunity on how their home's basic appliances tie into the utility system.

“Following the tour, several students shared that before this visit, they did not understand just how critical and serious this job was to the welfare and safety of our community,” said Brown. “They did not realize all the things that went into keeping our homes warm in the winter nor what it took to prepare food on a natural gas stove as well as have hot water in their homes.”

To learn more about Job Point, please visit jobpoint.org.