TRA IN ING Those who finish the course are eligible to sit the exam for
a journeyman technician right away, but they must do the six- months apprenticeship before applying for their journeyman's license, Senatore said. Alternatively, a person can do a one-year apprenticeship
under a master technician, then take the exam, but Senatore said, "Most students will come to a program like ours because it shortens the time." The Maine association encourages members of the Oil
Heat Council of New Hampshire to send students to its train- ing center. "We allow their members to send their students here at our member rate," Senatore said. "We have special accommodations for anyone from out of state," she added. There are three hotels within a mile of the training center, and the Maine association works with them to arrange dis- counted rates, she said. Still, most of the attendees hail from within Maine. "It's a drive for people," Senatore said, adding that many dealers
might not be focusing on training now "because the market's kind of saturated with trained technicians. Companies are hiring, but we're hearing it's pretty competitive out there. Companies are doing more with less. They're having their service managers do some of the work
that an installation guy or a technician or a journeyman would do. The economic situation hasn't necessarily led to a lot of hiring." Enrollment at the training center was low last year, and though
it picked up this year, it remains below peak. "Three years ago we used to sell out our oil classes at 18 students," Senatore said. "Now it's more like eight to 10, and we're happy with that because I'm not so sure the demand is ever going to get to where it used to be five and ten years ago." Like fuel oil dealers who diversify into other lines of business,
the Maine group's education center has diversified to train in other skill sets. "Air conditioning has been a huge growth area for us," Senatore said. "It's a natural diversification point for a lot of our members. We do BPI energy audit training here, and we have solar classes." Next on the agenda is development of a more robust propane
program. The propane classes currently are split into modules for
prospective drivers, service techs and installers under the Certified Employee Training Program of the National Propane Gas Association, which Senatore described as "a series of books and a licensing program that's been accepted by most of the states to license propane technicians.
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AUGUST 2012 | FUEL OIL NEWS | www.fueloilnews.com
