CEDIA, PowerHouse Alliance team to expand in-person training availability

The PowerHouse Alliance and CEDIA have partnered to expand the availability of CEDIA’s in-person training programs. As one of the first CEDIA Education Partners in the industry, the PowerHouse Alliance's 11 distributor members are committed to hosting in-person CEDIA Training courses at over 55 locations across the United States, beginning in Q4 of 2021.

CEDIA and PowerHouse Alliance say they have a shared goal of hosting at least one training in every PowerHouse Alliance member location each quarter. Training programs are slated to begin in October of 2021 and will start with the foundational courses that prepare individuals to sit for the CEDIA Cabling & Infrastructure Technician Certification with more advanced trainings that lead to CEDIA Integrated Systems Technician Certification planned in 2022.

Individuals can sign up to be notified of when training will be at a PowerHouse location near them here.

Giles Sutton, CEDIA co-interim CEO comments, “It is a common cry throughout the channel: dealers want access to CEDIA’s hands-on foundational courses to support both newly hired employees as well as technicians who want to advance their career through a deeper understanding of the fundamentals of systems integration."

Sutton continues, "This partnership with PowerHouse makes CEDIA education more accessible than ever before, and will equip technicians with some of the most important skills including using tools, job site etiquette and safety documentation and testing, with locations offering comprehensive hands-on lab activities that are designed to accurately simulate on-the-job tasks before a technician heads to a job site.”

The CEDIA Cabling and Infrastructure Technician School and supplemental textbook have been developed to provide entry-level technicians with a highly dynamic hybrid learning experience, says the association. CEDIA says this educational pathway supports both newly hired employees as well as technicians with a desire to begin the journey of professional certification in the systems integration industry. Registration grants student's access to CEDIA's CIT Pathway on CEDIA Academy, a newly developed online Learning Management System (LMS), with over 23 hours of technical education, designed to reduce lengthy classroom time as well as allowing for completion in an asynchronous, self-paced environment.

CEDIA notes the online portion of this course’s content has a strong focus on providing students with the foundational knowledge necessary to begin working as a technician, installing cabling and infrastructure to support integrated communications and entertainment systems. Upon completion of the online prerequisite, registrants will then attend one of CEDIA’s CIT hands-on courses.

The in-person portion of the course is taught by CEDIA subject matter experts to support and expand upon the technical knowledge resources from the CEDIA Academy. The 3-day course involves hands-on activities that are designed to give students a feel for those on-the-job tasks. By the completion of this course, students should be able to safely and effectively follow direction to install, terminate, and verify cabling in both new construction and retrofit environments.

CEDIA adds that the hybrid course provides a strong foundation for technicians who are interested in advancing their career through a deeper understanding of the fundamentals of systems integration. Technicians interested in the higher-level Integrated Systems Technician (IST) School are recommended to first complete the CIT School.

Dennis Holzer, Executive Director of The PowerHouse Alliance comments, “Every PowerHouse location will have at least one CEDIA-certified instructor, offering dealers the peace-of-mind that their new hires are learning the right protocols and standards of work to be successful on the job. Apart from extensive hands-on training and a consistent curriculum offered by each PowerHouse member, we will also be attentive to creating training schedules that work for our dealers.”

 To learn more about the PowerHouse Alliance or any of its member distributors, visit www.powerhousealliance.com.

To learn more about CEDIA, visit www.cedia.net.