[StBernard] Nunez Offering Electrical & Welding Courses to Help Meet State Demand

[Westley Annis]

Nunez Offering Electrical & Welding Courses to Help Meet State Demand


 

CHALMETTE, LA-Estimates suggest that around $60 billion in new and expanded
construction projects will be coming to Louisiana, creating approximately
35-thousand new industrial construction jobs by 2016. Nunez Community
College is doing its part to help meet local, workforce demands by offering
electrical and welding training courses.

            Director of Workforce Development, Ernest Frazier, said "The
construction industry in and around the Gulf Coast needs skilled workers.
Our experience-especially after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita-indicates that
if we do not have a local workforce to fill these high-paying jobs, workers
from other places come and occupy those positions."

Frazier's remarks are supported by report by "Building Louisiana's Craft
Workforce," a Louisiana Workforce Commission (LAWF) report, which cites "a
shortage of skilled construction workers to build and maintain these
plants".

The report estimates that a total of 86,300 additional workers will be
needed by 2016. Numbers for workers needed for industrial construction in
2014 and 2015 are 26,700 and 22,600, respectively.

            Frazier said many are interested in electrical and welding
courses.  

"We get telephone calls almost every day asking about these classes. The
great aspect is that we provide them over 8-week sessions as credit or
non-credit, and they come with industry-based certifications (IBC's) that
can then be taken into those industries, country-wide."

            Those who successfully complete the welding course receive
certification from the American Welding Society, while those who complete
the electrical courses receive National Center for Construction Education
and Research (NCCER) credentials-Electrical Levels 1&2 and 3&4. According to
the LAWF, "most of the.positions will require Levels 1and 2 of the
standardized construction and maintenance curricula developed by NCCER.
Completion of these first two levels of training will provide workers with a
portable credential which industry accepts for entry level work."

            "The next session of classes starts on March 26th. Anyone
interested in these courses should sign up now since space is limited,"
Frazier said.

            For more information contact Frazier at 504-278-6420 or visit
the Nunez website at www.nunez.edu <http://www.nunez.edu> .