Welding’s golden era? Area schools respond to energy industry demands with variety of welding programs
Jim McNutt/Observer-Reporter A gold welding mask was given to participants at a groundbreaking ceremony in June for WACTC’s new welding center in Houston.
Rob Lockwood of Pittsburgh, a member of the Steamfitters Local 449, welds a section of pipe for an oil and gas project at Chapman Corp. on South Main Street in Washington.
Brad DeiCas, director of the Mon Valley Career and Technology Center in Charleroi, is pictured in front of the center’s new welding equipment to support the high demand for welding jobs related to natural gas drilling.
Michael Bradwell/Observer-Reporter Dr. Joe Iannetti, director of Western Area Career and Technology Center, pauses after groundbreaking ceremonies for an 11,500-square-foot welding training center at the school.
Welding, one of the most valued skills in a number of industries, is making a big comeback in the region, thanks to demand from the oil and gas industry.
A half-dozen area schools – from career and technology centers to career colleges – have announced expansions, renovations, revived programs or are building completely new centers for welding, most of which will launch between late August and the end of the year.
But a representative for the Steamfitters union said depending upon the type of welding skills needed, additional training may be needed after a certificate is earned.
• Based on a groundbreaking ceremony June 26 for a 11,500-square-foot $1.5 million welding center at Western Area Career and Technology Center in which gold-colored welding masks were handed out in place of hard hats, it could be said that welding is ready to enter its next golden era.
WACTC, which expects to have its welding center up and running by year’s end, continues to train welders as part of its high school curriculum, but had to cap enrollment for the fall to 60 students because of a lack of space in the regular classroom building.
The new welding center, being constructed on ground directly behind the classroom complex, will feature a totally open interior, housing 46 welding booths, but leaving about half the space open for instruction in pipe welding. The building will be used for both high school and adult welding programs.
• At Mon Valley Career and Technology Center in Charleroi, the school worked with Justin Tatar, assistant dean of Community College of Allegheny County’s Washington campus, to design an adult welding program this fall that offers certification and the opportunity to sit for a qualifying exam in the spring.
Tatar said the school, which recently renovated an old welding area and added 18 state-of-the-art welding booths, also plans to offer an additional nine credits in downhill welding – the technique used for pipeline welds – next summer.
The area will also be used by students taking welding in MVCTC’s high school program, said director Brad DeiCas.
Tatar said the adult course is designed after CCAC’s successful welding program at its West Hills campus in Allegheny County. It also offers a certification program at Steel Center Career and Technology Center in Pittsburgh.
• Demand from high school students for welding classes at Greene County Career and Technology Center is so brisk that the school has had to close admission to adults, said Director Karen Pflugh.
“The class has been filled to capacity the last two years,” said Pflugh, who added that the class has a waiting list each year.
GCCTC is currently making renovations to its welding area, including $43,000 in electrical remodeling to accommodate the rising number of students using welding equipment.
The school is also spending between $2,000 and $3,000 on updates to each of its welding machines, Pflugh said.
• Uniontown’s Laurel Business announced in late June it will start the inaugural class for its “Welding & Fabrication with Pipeline Technology” program in September. The program, first begun at LBI’s sister facility, Laurel Technical Institute, earlier this year, met with early success, enrolling its first class this spring.
LBI said in a press release the new program will be offered at a newly renovated 10,000 square-foot facility on the LBI campus in downtown Uniontown.
The school said it developed the 12-month, three-semester program to address an ongoing need for welders in the region. It was developed in conjunction with an advisory committee comprised of manufacturing facilities in Southwestern Pennsylvania.
It offers training in the four main welding process – gas metal arc, shielded metal arc, flux cored arc and gas tungsten arc welding. In addition students will have training in fabrication techniques and pipe welding.
• Penn Commercial in Washington is also developing a new welding center at its campus in South Strabane Township, but no details were available.
“There is an identified shortage of welders not just in Southwestern Pennsylvania but nationwide and we are continuing to work to prepare individuals with proper skills so they are positioned to earn a diploma and join the work force,” said LBI President Nancy Decker in announcing her school’s new program.
• On the other side of the region, Pittsburgh Technical Institute broke ground in mid-February for a 15,000-square-foot PTI Energy Technology Center, which will serve as headquarters for new programs in welding technology, HVAC technology and Oil & Gas Electronics.
The oil & gas technology program begins this month, while welding technology begins in October.
With all of the programs either under way or set to start this fall, it would be reasonable to expect that the region is on the cusp of meeting the energy industry’s demand for welding professionals.
Ken Broadbent, business manager for Steamfitters Local Union 449 in Pittsburgh, said the number of upgrades and additions to welding programs in the region is a reflection of the demand coming from the oil and gas industry, but said many of those graduating should expect to gain more training from apprentice programs like those operated by his union, especially if they want to work on natural gas pipeline projects.
That’s because pipe welded for pipelines has to pass an x-ray inspection for integrity.
The demand for pipeline welders is surging throughout the region because of the number of pipelines being built to transport the natural gas being extracted from the Marcellus Shale.
A Dallas, Texas company preparing to build a 50-mile pipeline between Moundsville, W.Va. and Houston said it will need as many as 400 welders over the next year.
Local contractors like Paris Contracting in Avella have seen workforces double because of pipeline work in the Marcellus.
“We are constantly hiring and training new employees due to our pipeline projects,” said owner Alex Paris recently.
During a panel discussion in late May on the need for skilled labor for the energy industry, John McCarthy, chief executive officer of Chapman Corp.,, said the need for welders has continued to grow along with the Marcellus Shale work his company does, using steamfitters from Local 449.
The company employs between 1,000 to 1,600 people depending on its project load, which in addition to natural gas infrastructure work includes power plants and steel mills,
“Every project we do, we’re desperate for welders,” McCarthy said.
While acknowledging that someone could be adequately prepared to weld in a manufacturing or other setting, Broadbent, who helped WACTC design its new welding center, said people apprenticing with the Steamfitters can expect to spend the first three years gaining between 500 and 1,000 hours of welding before they can achieve x-ray quality welds.
“If you want to get into the Steamfitters, you increase the odds of getting into the union” by having earned welding certification at a career and technical school, community college or career college, Broadbent said.
“We’re looking for determined, aggressive individuals who can keep putting the hours in,” he said.
Brad DeiCas director of MVCTC, acknowledged that earning certification as a welder is just the first step in becoming a skilled welder.
“You’ve got to take what you learn and practice, practice, practice,” DeiCas said.
“A person who can weld is an artist. People don’t realize that.”