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$150,000 State Grant to Help Train 40 Welders
BOARDMAN, Ohio -- A $150,000 state development grant would provide funding necessary to train 40 new welders through the Plumbers & Pipefitters Local 396's apprenticeship program over the next two years, officials announced Tuesday.
The grant was made available through the Governor's Office of Appalachia, and is matched by Local 396's joint apprenticeship program.
"It's going to educate and re-certify not only members of our Local, but future members into the oil and gas industry," said Butch Taylor, business agent for Local 396. "We're partnering with our contractors and the industry itself in order to achieve the greatest success story for the community and the Valley."
Federal, state and local elected officials joined labor and community leaders at Local 396's Training Center for the announcement and a "pipe-cutting" ceremony.
Demand for welders with specific skills such as downhill welding has increased since the oil and gas industry took hold in Ohio four years ago. In 2012, a similar grant enabled 60 new welders to be trained on that program.
The earlier grant enabled welders to qualify for jobs at Pennant Midstream's Hickory Bend project, Vallourec Star, Evets Oil & Gas and De-Cal Fabricating, and in well-pad development, Taylor said.
He noted that future cryogenic plants, well-pad construction and additional work at companies such as Evets Oil & Gas and at pressure stations are likely to need more welders with higher skill sets.
The training would be extended to those that have already had some type of basic certification in welding but are looking to improve their qualifications.
"There are many career centers, vocational schools and training facilities that can get them started," Taylor said. "Once they get to a point, we can take them to a level of expertise they need to get them on-site."
These certifications are necessary in order to meet the skill standards of the oil and gas industry, Taylor added. The program should begin no later than Aug. 1. "We want to be ready for projects coming in 2015," he says.
Taylor was joined at the press event by U.S. Reps. Tim Ryan, D-13 Ohio, and Bill Johnson, R-6 Ohio; state Sen. Joe Schiavoni, D-33 Boardman; state Rep. Sean O'Brien, D-63; Kathy Zook, special projects program manager for Eastgate Regional Council of Governments; Tom Humphries, president and CEO of the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber; and Jason Wilson, director of the Governor's Office of Appalachia.
"This is all made possible because we truly are working together," Wilson told guests. "We are making an impact."
Wilson said that on Monday he stopped in Cadiz, Ohio, in Harrison County, where MarkWest Energy has constructed a massive natural gas processing complex.
"We were witnessing what once used to be a proud, coal mining community," he says. "That day has moved on in Harrison County. Now we're talking about oil and gas. Now we're talking about manufacturing."
Wilson says that the state has spent "millions of dollars" over the last four years related to training programs intended to draw attention to the trades and manufacturing.
"We were at what once was a quiet industrial park in Cadiz that today is full of activity, full of machinery, and most importantly full of workers," Wilson added.
Ryan told guests at the event that developing new skill sets for employees is vital to growing the state and nation's economy, especially in the energy sector.
He related German Chancellor Angela Merkel's reaction when she discovered he was from Ohio during the congressman's visit to Germany a year and a half ago. "‘Let's talk about natural gas,’" he recalled her saying, underscoring the importance of Ohio's resources in the Utica shale.
Johnson emphasized the importance of bipartisan support for these efforts, including the successful grant that was procured in 2012, which was mostly federal.
"That original grant set out to train five jobs, retain 135 jobs and train 60 welders," Johnson said. "All of those goals were not just met, but surpassed."
Copyright 2014 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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