business backgrounder | manufacturing
“ We know the demand for welders is there, and we know it’ s going to grow.”
— Ann Avary, director of the NW Center of Excellence for Marine Manufacturing and Technology
Welding student David Macht works at Grays Harbor College.
The GHC program follows a rolling-cohort model in which new students enroll each quarter. The new students learn alongside current students, with several students graduating each quarter.
“ Instead of flooding the market every year with a bunch of welders, we’ re launching them into the environment every quarter,” LeCompte said.“ This is a great model, especially for a rural community. Our goal is to train students for work, and if the number of trained welders in the job market is greater than the number of welding jobs available, students may not have those employment opportunities.”
One of the three community and technical colleges partnering on the framework, GHC is currently preparing to apply for its Career Launch endorsement through CCW. The college hopes this endorsement will allow the program to gain one additional certified welding inspector, add a work-based learning component and upgrade its equipment.
“ Our program is already good, but this project is going to help us take it to a new level,” said LeCompte.“ A small investment is being leveraged for a big payoff.”
providing employers with skilled professionals
Employers have played a key role in developing the framework every step of the way. Sierra Pacific Industries, which does all its welding in-house, has served as the employer voice from the beginning, and the project team has also sought input from employers via surveys and at conferences. The community and technical college partners also have employer partners. This input is critical to ensuring the framework meets employers’ needs.
“ We’ re looking to up the skill set, knowledge and abilities a young person leaving a training program brings to the employer. That ultimately brings down employer training time and costs,” Patterson said.“ With this project, we want to move away from training individuals who just show up and let someone else do the hard parts of the job for them. We’ re training welders who understand their heat input, can determine their preheat requirements, and know their code and specifications.”
The welders in turn will feel much more confident and capable in their abilities, which will make them happier and more productive. But it’ s not just the employees who will feel more confident.
“ The framework also gives employers confidence in who they’ re hiring,” Williams said.“ They will know that that foundational set of skills is there no matter what. Because this framework is being implemented throughout the state, and because we’ re providing professional development for faculty across the state, that increases the trust the employer can have in who they’ re ultimately getting out of the system.”
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