NEW HANOVER COUNTY – At Cape Fear Community College’s north campus, student are putting in long hours behind welding masks in the hopes of scoring decent jobs. With demand for the skill high, and supply of skilled workers low, most of them are getting those jobs.
Some don’t even have to wait for graduation.
“We had a kid come in, 18 years old, he started in the diesel program but didn’t like it so he came over to our program. He was still in the program when Bradford called and said they needed some welders. They needed someone right away, $19 an hour, like full-time, overtime,” Program Director Mike Taylor said.
Bradford Products makes stainless steel shells for hotel pools. The company, which got its start in Wilmington before it moved to Leland, is one of many in Brunswick, New Hanover and Pender counties that come to Taylor when they need skilled welders.
Bradford builds their pools in Leland, then disassembles them and sends them – along with a team, including welders – around the world to be reassembled. Taylor said his students have recently traveled to Moscow, London and Qatar.
“That kid who came in, we heard from him a few months, maybe six months later, and he told me, ‘yeah, I gotta go to the Bahamas.’ So that was alright. And last year he probably made about $75,000,” Taylor said.
Taylor said not every job ends up taking students around the globe, or paying quite so well. But most of his students do land jobs, and most pay considerably well, around $12 to $14 an hour, often with benefits. That comes as a surprise to some people, Taylor said.
“The demand is higher than when I was working, in the 1980s. Demand is high and supply is low,” Taylor said. “People forget, it’s still a big part of the gross national product. And the truth is the Baby Boomer generation of welders are retiring, you know. We’re losing all that talent and skill, and we need fresh blood.”
Even with advances in mechanization, small and medium-sized industrial operations are “popping up all over,” Taylor said. “There’s been talk of the economy slowing down, but we’re getting more calls than ever.”
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Demand for CFCC’s class is high, too. The program admits about 20 students in each class, with overlap between classes, for a total of about 50 students in the program at a time. This has meant, at times, there has been a wait list to get in.
“We have people calling us waiting to get in. I had a mother call me and say ‘what Congressman do I need to call to get more instructors.’ I told her, ‘I got instructors, what I need is more time in the day,’” Taylor said.
Part of the demand might be Taylor’s inside track. Having spent decades in the field, Taylor has seen a lot of former students go on to work in the industry, and has developed a reputation. Taylor also works with an advisory board of local industrial companies to make sure he knows what he’ll students will need to know.
“We’ll hear that a company is going to need say two dozen sheet metal welders in October, and – normally – we wouldn’t even be up to that point yet, so we can kind of move things around so that they’re ready if we get the call,” Taylor said.
CFCC’s welding program offers courses as part of either a diploma program or a certification program, and attracts a surprising range of people.
“We get all types. We get guys – and gals – out of the military. They seem to take to it really well. We get retired guys who just want to learn, and do it for fun. We had an artist who had gotten her degree in metal sculpture. She told us ‘I got my degree but I don’t feel like I’m doing it right.’ I told her, ‘well, I can’t help you with the art, but I can help you with the welding,’” Taylor said.
One advantage of the welding industry, Taylor said, is that it’s a place where people can start from scratch – and start over, as well.
“We see people with problems, of course, sometimes people don’t know what they want to do, or they’ve been through something difficult. I’ve had students tell me, ‘I’ve been laid off,’ or ‘I’m just getting out of jail,’ or ‘I’ve been struggling with a drug problem.’ We’re honest with them – Yes, some people won’t hire you, but somebody will. Doesn’t matter what you’ve been through, you come here, you show up and do the work, you’ll get certified,” Taylor said.
Joe Gerak, is one of Taylor’s student. Gerak spent five years in the Marine Corps and, six months before leaving the service, he started looking around. He liked the idea of the program, but didn’t know what was involved.
“I didn’t really know what to expect – I had absolutely no welding experience – but what really surprised me was the in-depth knowledge, the science, behind it. You definitely don’t just pick up a welder and start welding,” Gerak said.
Now, more than halfway through the program, Gerak said he’s happy about the job prospects ahead of him.
“You pass that test, you can get hired – you can take that and go work anywhere,” Gerak said.
The welding program started as a shop class at New Hanover High School, under Sonny Waters, a World War II veteran who had been a welder for the Navy. Stories of his underwater welding exploits have been handed down through the program, Taylor said.
As the New Hanover program grew into the newly founded Cape Fear Community College, Waters led the program, who handed it off to Alvin Williams; it was Williams who ran the program when Taylor came there as a student in 1982
“(Williams) ran things like a Marine corps drill sergeant, no nonsense, and I remember saying, ‘I don’t know if this thing is for me,” Taylor said. “But the took a stupid kid who didn’t know what he wanted to do, and kind of gave me some direction.”
Years later, Williams called Taylor up and offered him a job. Taylor isn’t alone; instructor Wes DeBruhl and Richard Bowie are both returning students.
“We feel responsible for this program, because of how much it’s meant to people,” Taylor said. “When Alvin left and it was up to me, there was a lot of responsibility – it was like, ‘don’t screw this up, now.’”
Send comments and tips to Benjamin Schachtman at ben@localvoicemedia.com, @pcdben on Twitter, and (910) 538-2001.
