Meet the Intern: James Baker

Prairie State Generating Company is pleased to welcome James Baker as the mechanical maintenance intern for the summer of 2018.

From Mt. Vernon, Illinois, Baker is a Southern Illinois University-Carbondale graduate.  He has an electrical technology degree from the Air Force.  After retiring from the Air Force, he attended trade school.  With a Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning certificate in hand, he worked on base housing.  He then returned to trade school, and he is currently in the industrial maintenance program at Southwestern Illinois College.

Maintenance appealed to Baker because he enjoys hands-on work.  “I don’t want to work behind a desk; I want to get involved by working with equipment.”  He applied at Prairie State after a classmate told him about the company’s maintenance internship.

During this summer, Baker will be assigned to teams for various work orders.  He will be involved in repairing machinery.  “I have learned about maintenance in my classes, and it is nice to see those ideas in use.”

Following this internship, Baker hopes to have a career in industrial maintenance.