Taking welding training where it’s needed

M State’s mobile welding trailer offers on-site training for students, employees

BY KRIS BEVILL

Good welders are hard to find and becoming even harder to find. Working welders are often recruited elsewhere and many are nearing retirement age In western Minnesota, a lack of training facilities has further impacted the region’s welder shortage in recent years. A mobile welding training facility operated by Minnesota State Community and Technical College serves as a sign of change for the region and is expected to help alleviate at least some of the labor issues for area manufacturers

G L Tucker, dean of custom training and business and entrepreneurial services at M State, says that while the college offered welding at one time, the program was discontinued several years ago However, as manufacturers have ramped up operations post-recession, M State recognized the need to provide welding training, not only for students but potentially for working welders as well, and made the decision to invest more than $200,000 in a mobile training unit. “There’s a great need for welding training,” he says “We felt like this was a good way to give us the flexibility to serve not only one campus or community, but the whole area ”

Minnesota State Community and Technical College’s mobile unit allows businesses to provide on-site welding training for current and new employees

PHOTO: MINNESOTA

STATE COMMUNITY AND TECHNICAL COLLEGE

The 53-foot trailer houses 12 training stations equipped to provide a range of training, including gas metal arc welding (MIG), gas tungsten arc welding (TIG) and stick welding, and the training can be customized to fit the client’s needs “We can work with anybody,” Tucker says, adding that for businesses in need of employee training, the mobile unit offers the convenience of on-site training and is a less-expensive alternative to classroom training.

The trailer has been in steady use since hitting the road last May, primarily for training programs offered in collaboration with Rural Minnesota CEP and Northwest Private Industry

Council Funding for training programs held in Little Falls, Detroit Lakes and Fosston, Minn , was provided through the Minnesota Job Skills Partnership Low Income Worker Grant and enabled more than two dozen previously unskilled workers to become certified welders through a 160hour mobile trailer training course The vast majority of course participants were employed in the area within about a month of receiving their certification and some had job offers even before completing their training, according to CEP spokespeople

Brian Gapinski, team leader for RMCEP in Little Falls, says the training course held there in late summer filled up within four days of announcing its availability and about 15 people are awaiting a chance to participate in a future training course In Detroit Lakes, most of the program participants were hired at area businesses, including various dock and lift businesses as well as traditional manufacturing facilities. “There’s a lot of industry in a 50-mile radius that requires welding,” says Kelley Nowell, RMCEP’s Detroit Lakes team leader

Tucker says the college anticipates demand for new welders in the region to remain strong for the foreseeable future. Beginning this month, the trailer will be located at M State’s Moorhead, Minn , campus and will offer a 120-hour noncredit training class to cover the basics of welding for interested parties. The college is also considering adding an on-campus program and will continue to market customized training through the mobile unit to area businesses PB

Kris Bevill Editor, Prairie Business 701-306-8561, kbevill@prairiebizmag com