Carol Johnson, Southern Indiana Business Report
LEAVENWORTH – Crawford County Economic Development is offering a five-week welding boot camp that will prepare participants to take the all-important SMAW certification test.
Beginning Jan. 20, classes will be held on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5 to 9 p.m., The camp will be offered at Crawford County High School in Marengo. The cost of the course is $1,750 and covers all supplies, gear and testing fees. Tuition is free to those who qualify. The camp ends Feb. 19.
Chris Isaacs, Workforce & Project coordinator for Crawford County Economic Development Corporation, spoke with Southern Indiana Business Report about offering this job training opportunity to residents in the Crawford County area.
Has Crawford County Economic Development offered anything like this before?
This is the first time CCED has directly offered training like this. In the past, we have partnered with the Crawford County Community Schools and Ivy Tech Sellersburg to offer welding training. We are looking to start offering more workforce-related adult skills training in the near future to the community.
Any factors driving the need for this class, i.e., employers who can’t find welders? Or adults who want the training but it’s not available in the area?
There are opportunities for employment as welders both locally and in the region. We have seen an increase in demand for this training, however the training is not always available locally. In many cases individuals interested in training would be required to travel nearly an hour to receive similar training and certification. That is often difficult or impossible to do if you are working a full-time job out of the county, plus we have seen transportation be a barrier to access training opportunities. We are hopeful that by offering the training locally, we can mitigate some of these barriers.
Will participants who complete the class be trained and job ready or will they need additional training?
That is a great question. A lot of this depends on the employer they are seeking a position with. Upon completion of this course, participants will take the 1G SMAW certified welders’ exam from the American Welding Society. Many of the employers in the region offer their own internal welding training to new employees. Our hope is to give job seekers in our community an advantage when applying for welding jobs by having already received a nationally recognized workforce certification. This course will give participants the basic skills and knowledge to be immediately successful on the job and make an impact for employers.
I see that CCED brought several partners on board to offer the training.
By having multiple partners, it allows the program to be more comprehensive. For example, through these partnerships we have access to more resources from training spaces, access to testing facilities, basic adult education if required, and assistance with job placement.
The free tuition for qualifying individuals is a great incentive to offer, did your office receive a grant for that?
Through Southern Indiana Works, qualified participants can access the State of Indiana’s Workforce Ready Grant funds in Region 10 to cover training costs. Furthermore, Duke Energy provided us with a $2,000 grant to cover expenses related to the program.
For more information about the welding boot camp, contact Isaacs, 812-739-4479 or [email protected].
This story has been updated with new information.