How are linemen at a power company and linemen on a football team alike?

There are two lucky dogs living near Emerson, Arkansas. They’re lucky Magnolia Serviceman Phillip Knapp was on the job mid-morning Feb. 22 investigating power outages on Highway 79 just after a thunderstorm passed through.

Like a baseball farm system, Lamar Institute of Technology’s (LIT) utility line technology program is preparing graduates for the big leagues. And, for some graduates, the big league is a line crew at Entergy Texas. For years, LIT developed future Entergy employees by preparing students to work in the power line industry as apprentice linemen. That talent development will continue with a recently awarded $10,152 grant from Entergy Texas to the LIT Foundation for the purchase of new equipment for the lineworker training program.