Abbey Middleton, one of the first female line workers among NTCA member companies, never expected to be a line worker for the Scott County Telephone Cooperative (SCTC) (Gate City, Va.).
She wanted to join the Virginia State Police, but the agency requires applicants to be at least 21 years old. To spend the time until she was eligible to enroll as a trooper, Abbey talked to some people she knew and started taking classes as part of the Mountain Empire Community College (MECC) Power Lineman Program. “I didn’t know anything about it,” she said. “I like being outside. I like helping people.” Admittedly, though, she “was flying blind.”
Shortly after joining the 15-week program, however, Abbey said she realized she really enjoyed the work and started thinking about a career in line work. Instructors taught her about worksite safety, lineman basics, and eventually she earned her Class A Commercial Driver’s License.
Upon completion of the program, Abbey said she made the decision to apply to SCTC. Not long after submitting her paperwork, she was notified she got the job, a particularly impressive feat considering how few women are employed as line workers nationwide.
"Internet rules the world now. To see our customers come out and say, ‘Thanks,’ it just means a lot."
Though she’s “never met a line worker who’s a woman,” Abbey said she would encourage all women to join their local telecom companies as line workers too. It’s a rewarding job, she said, and it hasn’t been hard for her to quickly gain the respect of her colleagues and peers. “Once you show you can hang right with them, they don’t treat you [any] different,” she said.
Abbey attributes much of her success to the MECC, and she noted many of her coworkers also went through the program and joined SCTC, as well. With federal funding for broadband growing seemingly by the day, the program continues to serve and ultimately employ many line workers like Abbey.
“Internet rules the world now,” she said. “To see our customers come out and say, ‘Thanks,’ it just means a lot.”