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Students at OTC's Lebanon campus demonstrate line worker training.
Photo provided by Ozarks Technical Community College
Students at OTC's Lebanon campus demonstrate line worker training.

OTC expands line worker program to Christian County

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Ozarks Technical Community College is responding to a need for electrical line workers by expanding its industry training program to Christian County.

The two-year program is set to launch this fall at the Richwood Valley campus, located between Nixa and Ozark, according to a news release. The training allows students to earn an associate degree in electrical distribution systems.

“We realized very quickly that there was a great deal of demand for line worker training in southwest Missouri,” said OTC Chancellor Hal Higdon in the release. “Right now, we turn away more students than we can admit to the program. This expansion will allow the college to nearly double the number of graduates we turn out.”

OTC's line worker program started at its Lebanon campus in in 2018. Of the 20 students who graduated from the first class of OTC’s electrical distribution systems program in spring 2020, 15 currently are working in the field, according to the release.

OTC officials pointed to data from the Department of Labor’s Occupational Information Network showing the average salary for a southwest Missouri line worker is $79,750.

The Richwood Valley campus initially will accept 18 students, with plans to increase the class size to 24 annually.

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