Training Groups, Colleges Build Workforce Muscle
Published May 27, 2008
Demetrius Rodriguez hones his welding skills at the Craft Training Center as instructor Juan Diaz supervises.
When Brook Buterbaugh joined Dixie Iron Works two years ago, the Alice company was undergoing a period of rapid expansion and steady hiring.
“We’ve grown by close to 100 percent in the past 18 months and continue to hire,” Buterbaugh says of the manufacturing company that supports the global oil and gas business. “We’re not only looking for qualified applicants, we’re also looking for the best ways to train employees we hire.”
Dixie Iron Works teamed up with WorkSource of the Coastal Bend, the region’s central workforce development and employment resources agency, for an on-the-job training program that compensates the company for half of qualified employees’ wages while they undergo training.
“It has helped offset our training costs significantly,” says Buterbaugh, the company’s human resources manager. “WorkSource also refers potential employees to us when we’re hiring. It’s a good partnership.”
The collaboration between WorkSource and Dixie Iron Works is just one of many examples where government, civic, educational and business entities are joining forces to train a qualified workforce to meet the area’s growing needs.
Training Center, Colleges Involved
At the Craft Training Center of the Coastal Bend, industrial leaders and contractors are educating pipefitters, welders and other skilled workers for the Coastal Bend’s burgeoning construction industry.
According to Education Director Rachel D. Ballou, the Craft Training Center is in the midst of an expansion that includes the addition of a state-of-the-art training facility. Upon completion, the center will cover 41,000 square feet of space.
From January 2005 through mid-2007, the Craft Training Center had nearly 950 course completions in a variety of areas including welding, electrical, pipefitting, instrument fitting, industrial painting, scaffolding and plumbing.
Additional workforce training resources can be found at Coastal Bend College, where the school’s Alice campus offers courses such as welding technology.
Rito Silva, director of the school’s Alice campus, says courses soon will be added in drafting and oil and gas technology as well as machinist training. Coastal Bend College also has campuses in Beeville and Kingsville.
Del Mar College in Corpus Christi offers degrees and certificates in more than 150 fields, including aviation maintenance. Its Center for Economic Development provides business and industry with customized training programs, continuing education programs and technology seminars.
Strategic Plan in the Works
For Coastal Bend regional leaders like Skip Noe, city manager for Corpus Christi, bringing together the area’s many resources for workforce development is a priority. Noe is leading an effort to formulate a comprehensive strategic plan for workforce development.
“The community has recognized workforce development to be a key objective for the future,” Noe says. “It’s one of a handful of priorities coming out of the economic strategic planning process we have going on now.
“The clear theme is that this needs to be a focal point for the community long term if we’re going to be successful.”
Story by Valerie Pascoe
Photo by Brian McCord
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