BUCKHANNON, W.Va. — The third annual Tom Dunn Energy & Leadership Academy will wrap up on Thursday at West Virginia Wesleyan College as parents and students learn what type of higher education students may need to pursue a career in the energy industry in West Virginia.
Dennis Xander said that what the Academy is offering to West Virginia high school students is a very different jobs market than when his kids graduated.
“The message we have for them is: they can stay in West Virginia after they graduate from high school,” he said. “20 years ago when my kids graduated from high school, they had to leave the state to find good jobs.”
In spite of the state’s recent rise in unemployment, Xander said the energy industry continues to suffer from staffing shortages.
“We need these kids,” he said. “We have a shortage of good people. So we need these kids, and we need to start cultivating them now.”
Grant Cunningham, Tom Dunn’s grandson, has attended the Academy as both a student and now as a counselor. He said he wished he’d asked his grandfather more about the industry before he died.
“I am very lucky because I found out more about the process,” Cunningham said. “I did not realize how many jobs there were in the field.”
He said his grandfather would have really appreciated the effort being put forward to keep the state’s energy industry thriving.
“I’m just so incredibly honored to be a part of this Academy as a counselor to represent the kind of person that he was,” Cunningham said.
The students attend the three day Academy for free thanks to the private donors who support it each year.
Xander said that the students shouldn’t be afraid to make the leap into the industry. The final day of the Academy is generally used as a way for students to figure out how they can pursue a career in the energy industry if that’s what they want to do.
“If you like what you see and you want to pursue this, here’s educational opportunities that will prepare you for your careers,” he said.