PERC awards propane education grants to 30 tech schools

Thirty technical schools gave their students a hands-on learning experience and more career opportunities after graduation with propane curriculum and lab equipment funded by the Propane Education & Research Council (PERC).

PERC’s Technical School Grant Program awards winning technical schools and community colleges up to $10,000 for teaching approved propane curriculum from PERC, using propane equipment for laboratory instruction and encouraging students to get CETP certification.

PERC selected 30 schools from 19 states for the 2021 school year.

“American companies face a shortage of young service technicians, and propane companies are no exception,” PERC President and CEO Tucker Perkins says in a press release. “For more than 100 years, propane has provided wonderful careers to bright young women and men who enjoy working with their hands as well as their brains. This grant program is designed to help more of them prepare for important, rewarding technical work in our industry.”

Winning schools chose to offer either the PERC Overview of Propane Distribution Systems training or the full PERC HVAC and Plumber Technical Training.

For schools that chose to teach students the Overview of Propane Distribution Systems, eligible lab equipment includes a propane regulator test and demo training board; a propane regulator cutaway; pressure measuring devices; liquid leak detector solution; gas pipe, tubing and fittings samples; a propane hydrometer; and a propane gas appliance.

For schools that chose to offer the full HVAC and Plumber Technical Training, eligible equipment includes the items listed for teaching the overview, plus additional propane appliances and venting components.

Each school identified a local propane adviser for the program. Propane advisers can work for a local propane company or a state propane gas association or foundation.

The following schools have been selected for the program:

Alabama

• Chattahoochee Valley Community College, Phenix City
• Southern Union State Community College, Opelika
• Wallace Community College, Eufaula
• Wallace State Community College, Hanceville

Connecticut

• ENTECH Advanced Energy Training, Cromwell

Georgia

• Southern Regional Technical College, Moultrie

Idaho

• North Idaho College CTE HVAC, Coeur d’Alene

Maine

• Region Two School of Applied Technology, Houlton

Minnesota

• Hennepin Technical College, Eden Prairie 

Missouri

• Jefferson College, Hillsboro

Montana

• Columbia Falls High School (School District 6), Columbia Falls
• Montana State University, Northern Havre

Nebraska

• Southeast Community College, Milford

New York

• Northwest Technical Center: St. Lawrence-Lewis BOCES, Ogdensburg
• Suffolk County Community College, Brentwood

North Carolina

• Alamance Community College, Graham
• Lenoir Community College, Kinston
• Montgomery Community College, Troy
• South Piedmont Community College, Monroe

Pennsylvania

• Upper Bucks Technical School, Perkasie

South Carolina

• Horry-Georgetown Technical College, Conway
• Tri-County Technical College, Pendleton

South Dakota

• Western Dakota Tech, Rapid City

Texas

• Collin County Community College District Technical Campus, Allen
• PHCC-San Antonio, San Antonio

Vermont

• Central Vermont Career Center, Barre
• Vermont Fuel Training Center, Montpelier

Virginia

• Associated Builders and Contractors Virginia Chapter, Sterling

West Virginia

• Blue Ridge Community and Technical College, Martinsburg

Wisconsin

• Northcentral Technical College, Wausau

The council is a nonprofit that provides propane safety and training programs, and invests in research and development of new propane-powered technologies.