For Immediate Release
Contact: Chris Caldwell, UCOR
Christopher.Caldwell@orcc.doe.gov
UCOR intern program wins Amentum Athlon Award
Oak Ridge, Tenn., November 29, 2023 – A six-person United Cleanup Oak Ridge, LLC (UCOR) team, led by Community Outreach and Workforce Development Coordinator Shannon Potter, have been honored with the Amentum Athlon Award for the company’s successful summer intern program.
In 2023, UCOR expanded its summer intern participation to 40 students from 14 colleges in eight states, representing a 40% increase in the program from 2022. This dramatic growth coupled with the program’s multi-year success was the basis for the award from Amentum, UCOR’s parent company. The team was recognized in the People category, which honors “embracing inclusion and collaboration.”
UCOR is committed to creating a pipeline of cleanup workers to replace the soon-to-retire members of the workforce. The intern program, one aspect of the company’s workforce development effort, provides opportunities for students across a broad range of fields, including supply chain, finance, engineering, waste management, environmental stewardship, information technology, communications, occupational medicine, and industrial safety.
“Our team is dedicated to giving the students real world experience that helps them refine their career goals and sets them up for a successful transition from the classroom to the workforce,” said Potter.
In addition to on-the-job experience, the program provides group activities such as a “corporate speed-dating” session for the interns to network with those from other universities, a training session on developing and delivering presentations, and a community service project. Students also receive job-related training as needed, such as radiation worker protection for students who will be working at active cleanup sites
In addition to open solicitation for candidates, interns are chosen through the company’s university partnerships and from DOE’s Mentorship for Environmental Scholars (MES) program. MES actively recruits undergraduates from Historically Black Colleges and Universities and other minority-serving institutions.
Charlie Malarkey, UCOR Administrative Services Manager and executive champion of the program, said the intern program is proving successful in building the worker pipeline.
“Several participants are already pursuing careers at UCOR after completing their internships,” Malarkey said. “Since UCOR began its cleanup contract in Oak Ridge, eight students in UCOR’s summer internship program have joined the workforce full-time, while 16 students have continued in part-time extended internship roles.”
In addition to Potter and Malarkey, team members include Sierra Generette, a former intern who is UCOR’s primary liaison with the MES program; Jeremy Harley, who supervised intern placement in the Technical, Engineering & Nuclear Safety department where most interns were located; Jon Campbell, training leader and instructor; and Allison Lloyd, lead Human Resources liaison.
Amentum’s Athlon Awards program is a multi-tiered and peer-nominated event. Amentum employees are invited to nominate their colleagues and project teams from the business and supporting functions. Judges then evaluate the submissions, selecting individuals and teams from each category who achieved the highest standards of professional excellence and who best exemplify company values.
UCOR is the DOE Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management’s lead environmental cleanup contractor. The company’s nearly 2,200 workers are dedicated to safely reducing environmental risk on the Oak Ridge Reservation while helping DOE’s Office of Science and the National Nuclear Security Administration continue their important missions. Learn more about the company at UCOR.com.
-end-
UCOR NR 2023-22
DOWNLOAD ORIGINAL PRESS RELEASE
DOWNLOAD PHOTO: Athlon_award_team.jpg
PHOTO CAPTION: Left to right: Allison Lloyd, Jeremy Harley, Charlie Malarkey, Shannon Potter, Sierra Generette, and Jon Campbell