LaGrange County REMC apprentice lineman Colton Feller has completed the Rural Electric Apprenticeship Program (REAP) and became a journeyman lineman this month.

REAP is a four-year program through Indiana Electric Cooperatives, our statewide service organization. The program consists of 576 hours of classroom and skills instruction as well as 8,000 hours of on-the-job training. Upon completion of the program, Feller also earned an associate degree in applied science through Ivy Tech Community College.

Feller loved the apprenticeship program and gained many lifelong friends along the way. He went through the process with other apprentice linemen throughout Indiana. “The year-end tests were pretty difficult, knowing that the results of those determined whether or not you would move on to the next year,” Feller said.

Feller began his career at LaGrange County REMC on the right-of-way crew in 2016 and began the apprenticeship program in 2018.

When he isn’t working, Feller enjoys attending and participating in rodeos, hunting, trapping and raising horses. Feller and his wife, Sadie, reside in LaGrange.