Giving Back to Rapid City
Over the last 40 years, Rapid City has been good to us, and nothing makes us happier than to have a chance to give back. When you hire us for a project, the money stays local and cycles several times over. On a yearly basis, we donate to several non-profit organizations.
So far this year we have contributed to the following organizations:
Construction Trades Workforce Connection Field Day
On March 19th and 20th, 2024 Kilowatt Electric took part in a field day put on by the Construction Trades Workforce Connection for Hill City, Rapid City Stevens, and Sturgis High School construction trades students. The event took place at Midwestern Mechanical, and the students were able to learn about the following things:
Kilowatt Electric gave the students a demonstration of different types of building wire and the uses for each type. We were also able to give them a brief lesson on bending EMT conduit and some of the different testers we use in our day to day.
Western States Fire Protection gave a presentation about the progression of construction plans, starting with a large set of paper plans, then to 2D on the computer plans through 3D BIM modeling. They also discussed the importance of identifying conflicts between the trades using this program. They were able to give real-world examples of projects that they are working on across the country.
Midwestern Mechanical toured everyone through their HVAC duct fabricating shop where they could see the entire process from cutting the metal out on a plasma cutter through the process to making a complete section of ductwork, showed the students sections of prefabricated plumbing pipes and how they related back to the BIM model that they were exposed to earlier. They also gave a demonstration of basic plumbing tools and methods commonly used. And also toured the students through their in-house classroom where they teach HVAC and plumbing fundamentals to their employees.
We wrapped up the day discussing some of the great opportunities that are available to them in the construction industry.
Through our partnership with several different construction groups, general contractors, subcontractors, and other groups we are starting to be able to host events like this as well as offering our expertise to the teachers of these classes and even help provide needed items that their budgets won’t allow for to give the students the best experience possible.
