business backgrounder | manufacturing
Tristan Myers practices gouging metal under the supervision of instructor Rod McDonald at Grays Harbor College.
Skagit Valley College and Walla Walla Community College) and three regional K-12 network partners( the Capital STEM Alliance, Career Connect Northwest and Career Connect Southeast).
“ Welding, at its core, is a foundational skill set, and it supports a huge range of industries that are key within our state’ s economy,” said Sarah Patterson, workforce development director with the AGC Education Foundation, the CCW construction sector leader.“ We want to establish a strong, industry-aligned welding program of study that schools and colleges across Washington state can adopt with confidence knowing that they will be providing a curriculum that leads students to employment in a variety of sectors.”
increasing access to family-wage jobs
The project leaders intentionally chose to launch the welding framework in rural communities to provide an access point to this high-demand career across school districts and regions.
“ Students in rural communities in particular have access issues, whether it’ s connectivity, materials, transportation or something else,” said Ann Avary, director of the NW Center of Excellence for Marine Manufacturing and Technology, the CCW maritime sector leader.“ By extension, there are very few professional development opportunities for faculty in rural communities. We thought if we worked in rural communities first, we could create
“ Students will have a baseline set of skills that will help them move into higher education and then into industry when they’ re ready to make that transition.”
— Lindsey Williams, director of the Agriculture and Natural Resources Center of Excellence
46 association of washington business