Burns & McDonnell
Daniel Sierra is a Business Development Manager in Transmission & Distribution at Burns & McDonnell. Laron Evans is an electrical engineer and diverse business manager at Burns & McDonnell.
Decarbonization is growing, resulting in an urgent need for action to deliver on ambitious commitments, especially regarding utility infrastructure. To achieve these goals, workers are needed, and utilities along with their contractors and subcontractors, aim to help by increasing the diversity of the workforce across companies that engineer, construct, and modernize our nation's energy infrastructure.
In serving this unique role, utilities can bolster capacity to overcome their infrastructure challenges, such as the big role expected of transmission and distribution in the energy transformation, by cultivating a workforce that mirrors their communities. A part of that is helping diverse and small subcontractors learn how to get in on opportunities to compete with established companies.
To learn more about how this is taking place, Public Utilities Fortnightly went to two experts on helping the utility workforce achieve the skills and expertise necessary to meet these many construction challenges, while reflecting the diversity of the communities they serve. Burns & McDonnell's Daniel Sierra and Laron Evans have much to say on the subject.
PUF's Steve Mitnick: Daniel what is your role in your company?