BRIDGEPORT — The new ComEd training center is officially open for business in the neighborhood.
At a Friday morning ribbon-cutting ceremony, Mayor Rahm Emanuel, with state and local dignitaries, celebrated the opening of the facility — the first of its kind built from the ground-up in the city of Chicago in ComEd’s 130-year history.
“This is not just cutting a ribbon on a facility,” Emanuel said. “This is cutting a ribbon on Chicago leading the country in Smart Grid technology and building a future pole by pole into the 21st Century.”
The facility at 3535 S. Iron St. houses 40 full-time staffers who train energy workers in 51,000 square feet of classroom and indoor training space, designed with utility poles where linemen can practice their trade.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Anne Pramaggiore, ComEd CEO, said.
Outside the building, there’s a 138,000-square-foot outdoor training yard. The company expects to train 4,000 employees at the facility every year.
The state-of-the-art training facility opens as part of a $2.6 billion investment brought by the 2012 Energy Infrastructure Modernization Act passed by the Illinois General Assembly to modernize the Chicago region's electricity infrastructure.
Ald. Patrick D. Thompson (11th) said the center will help propel the advancement of technology while giving budding students a place to start a career in energy.
“I want to thank [ComEd] for investing here in Bridgeport,” he said.
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