By: Ashmar Mandou

City officials joined Peoples Gas and North Shore Gas President and CEO Charles Matthews on Wednesday afternoon in the Little Village neighborhood to break ground on the utilities’ new state-of-the-art training center. “When we break ground on this new training center, we are breaking ground on new futures for Chicagoans and new opportunities for our students,” Mayor Emanuel said. “This training center will give our utility workers cutting-edge training while preparing our students for good careers in the utility industry. This state-of-the-art facility will also create new jobs and support new economic opportunities in the Little Village neighborhood.” Peoples Gas and North Shore Gas are investing nearly $20 million in the project, which will provide annual training to more than 1,600 utility workers. Through a partnership with Chicago Public Schools (CPS), the center will help Chicago students train for potential jobs with Peoples Gas when they graduate.

“Our new training center will allow Peoples Gas and North Shore Gas to maintain our excellent record of safety and reliability by providing advanced training in best practices for our employees,” Matthews said. “Just as important, our new vocational partnership with Chicago Public Schools will help us build for the future as we prepare for a large portion of our workforce to retire and a new generation of workers to begin their careers.” The center, located at 4228 W. 35th Place, will be more than 100,000 square feet. The center will provide training to current and future employees of Peoples Gas and North Shore Gas as well as prep high school students for careers as utility workers through vocational programming. “Peoples Gas has made a major investment in our vibrant Little Village community, one that will create jobs and provide educational and economic opportunities for our local businesses and primarily Mexican residents,” Alderman Ricardo Munoz (22nd Ward) said. “The CPS partnership is especially significant because it will provide our youth additional educational and career opportunities to help them succeed and make their families proud.” UJAMAA Construction, Inc., a Chicago minority-owned general contractor was awarded the contract for the training center construction. Part of the training center will be in operation in 2017.

PHOTO CAPTION:
Peoples Gas and North Shore Gas President and CEO Charles Matthews joined Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Alderman Ricardo Munoz (22nd), other local officials and community leaders today to break ground on the utilities’ new $20 million, 100,000-plus-square-foot, state-of-the-art, training center in the Little Village neighborhood. Also in the photo are Lori Flores Rolfson, Operations and Maintenance, Peoples Gas & North Shore (far right) and Todd Pressley, Vice President, Ujamaa Construction (far left).

Photo Credit: Peoples Gas