Grappling to attract young people to Tombigbee EPA’s digital workforce, CEO Scott Hendrix took a page out of lineworkers’ career showcase, applied it to fiber broadband skills, and an annual “splicing rodeo” was born.
The rodeo is proving to be a winner for electric cooperatives pursuing a new generation of workers and rural teenagers seeking good-paying technical jobs. Tombigbee Fiber, the broadband subsidiary of the Tupelo, Mississippi-based co-op, has filled three broadband tech positions with competitors from event, which has tripled in attendance since its start in 2022.
“Anytime we build a workforce to make all of our lives easier, that’s a win,” said Hendrix. “To see the joy in these young men and women’s eyes at the rodeo then see them sitting across the table six months later in an interview saying, ‘Hey, I was there at the rodeo. I want to work for you.’ That’s a great day.”
Nearly 130 high schoolers from eight north Mississippi counties, many traveling more than 100 miles, came to the Sept. 30 rodeo to learn how to fuse fiber optic cable from co-op staff and then compete in three timed rounds with increasingly complicated splicing assignments.
The top six competitors won scholarships to enroll in the fiber technician certification program at Northeast Mississippi Community College from Tombigbee and MEGAPOP, a nonprofit that promotes north Mississippi co-ops’ broadband buildout and middle mile fiber network, with TVA Mississippi contributing to reduce overall tuition.
The co-op also brought equipment to the event such as a fiber splicing trailer, a bucket truck and a trailer with an electric system built in miniature for the students to explore.
“It’s a good opportunity to explain to them what we do,” said Hendrix. “Some of the students who had no interest in coming leave the day wanting to work in this field. Some of them come in wanting to be in an electric environment and find a new appreciation for fiber.”
The rodeo takes place at the Digital Innovation Conference organized by MEGAPOP, which tapped Hendrix, a MEGAPOP board member, to find ways to engage youth in the future of co-op broadband. He immediately thought of the popular lineworker rodeos.
“How do you make something competitive, fun, entertaining, informative and fiber related? And this was our answer to that,” said Hendrix.
Since the state allowed electric co-ops to enter the broadband field five years ago, 17 have developed subsidiaries with a total of 41,000 miles of fiber that pass more than 550,000 homes and businesses.
To keep pace, Hendrix said, Tombigbee Fiber has expanded its staff to 50 and plans to tap the splicing rodeo’s talent whenever necessary.
Calling it “an easy lift” for “a year of goodwill,” he encourages co-ops in broadband nationwide to find partners and pursue a splicing rodeo to grow their workforce and enrich their communities.
“It’s great community outreach,” he said. “At worst, we are teaching people in our communities just the sheer mechanics of running a fiber network, which has great educational value. And at best, you come out with a great relationship with future community leaders and then, even better, you end up hiring a few of them.”
Cathy Cash is a staff writer for NRECA.