ABE AZIZ IS AUB’S NEWEST JOURNEYMAN LINEMAN
ABE AZIZ IS AUB’S
NEWEST JOURNEYMAN LINEMAN
ATHENS, Tenn. – Abe Aziz is Athens Utilities Board’s (AUB) newest journeyman lineman and the utility’s most recent employee to receive an advanced certification within his field of work.
Aziz began his career with AUB in the utility’s Wastewater Division in 2013. Just over a year later, AUB was looking for an apprentice lineman and Aziz decided to try for the job.
In November 2014, after a series of successful interviews at AUB, he moved to AUB’s Power Division and entered a demanding, five-year lineman apprenticeship program.
“The responsibilities and job duties of a lineman really appealed to me, even though I knew the program would be challenging,” Aziz said.
“The apprentice program is five years of hands-on learning in the field and countless hours of testing and classes,” he said.
Aziz spent several weeks in Alabama at the Bellefonte nuclear facility practicing safe climbing techniques, training on all aspects of line work and construction, and focusing on safety.
“You are away from your family for weeks at a time,” Aziz said, “which is tough.”
The focused training and Aziz’s personal dedication paid off and is noticed every day among his AUB colleagues.
“Abe is just the kind of person you love to have on your team,” said Kevin Goins, who oversees line crews and power operations for AUB.
“He came in as a new apprentice lineman and immediately earned everyone's respect with his desire to learn to climb (power poles), which can be intimidating and dangerous. Today he is one of the smoothest, best climbers we have.
“He has taken great interest in teaching newer apprentices proper climbing techniques. That desire—to learn new things and teach what he has learned—is a mark of a top-notch lineman,” Goins said.
Aziz is equally generous in praise of his co-workers.
“I've been fortunate to be surrounded by great linemen who have taught me a lot during my apprenticeship. I have been lucky to have had great foremen in David Rayl and Kevin Goins, and I’ve worked with some of the best lineman in the industry teaching and training me,” he said.
Goins said that perhaps Aziz’s strongest quality is that he is “a genuinely happy and positive person.”
“That is important when a storm rolls through the area. The task of power restoration can be intimidating and time consuming. Having people like Abe who have a positive attitude and are committed to serving this community until every customer's power is restored is priceless,” Goins said.
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