If Mike Welsh of Alliant Energy had his choice of once conference to send his company’s apprentices to, it would be Finepoint’s Circuit Breaker Test and Maintenance Conference. In fact, it is the main conference that Alliant’s apprentices and journeymen attend for training and for continuing education.

Alliant Energy is a public utility holding company serving more than 1.4 million customers in Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin. The company has an internal four-year substation apprenticeship program that relies significantly on the Finepoint conference.

“We feel the amount of knowledge that comes from the presenters, and the conference in general make it useful as a training facility,” said Welsh, the substation electrician foreman at Alliant. “It’s the best one around the country we have found; Finepoint covers the gamut of everything inside the fence—everything that deals with substations.”

Alliant has been sending people to the conference for nine years, and 11 Alliant employees attended last year. Welsh said that they appreciate the total access to the training session speakers. “They have the people there to answer your questions. And if they can't answer your question at the moment, at least you walk out of there with a business card of a good contact person.”

Both the people attending the conference and the exhibitors make connections through the conference. The factory tour, evening expo and in-depth training seminars contribute to the building of valued relationships, according to Welsh.

“I find that if you have a specific piece of equipment, and I’m trying to figure something out or there’s something just not right with it, I can go through my rolodex and pull out a card of an individual who works for the factory or somebody I have met at these conferences and call them up and get some answers,” Welsh said.

The easy access to old and new technology is another benefit of the conference. The conference features an exposition every evening where attendees can meet vendors, see new products and network with peers. About 90 companies display their substation and switchgear products at the Hospitality Expo.

Finepoint, the conference’s host, does not sell any other products and services, and the session topics are presented by electric utility representatives instead of suppliers and consultants. “It’s not a commercial; it’s definitely more of an educational conference,” Welsh said.

Welsh said that each year the conference host asks for feedback in order to serve the attendees. Bill Myers, the president of Finepoint, continues to move the conference forward by listening and responding to suggestions. “On the last day, Bill asks ‘is there anything that we’re missing?’ He’s all about getting you what you need and continuing to grow from that aspect,” Welsh said. “That’s the good thing about it, and he’s obviously doing it well.”