TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — Tallahassee Community College hosted a ceremony displaying their newer and larger welding lab Thursday.
This new lab will allow the class to double in size taking it from a class of 15 to 30. This new space was funded by the Department of Commerce and took less than a year to build.
This course is a little over a year long. Students can gain 6 industry recognized certifications, including their American Welding Society certification.
We caught up with a TCC student and he goes on to tell us about his experience in the program.
Brandon Martinez says, "I've been a student at TCC for about a year and I'm really enjoying this program."
Martinez has about 6 more months to go before finishing this welding course. He says he dedicated himself to welding straight out of high school. He goes on to tell us that he enjoys this trade and that he likes the abundance of opportunity.
Due to the need for over 400,000 welders TCC has noticed a trend when it comes to this field. When speaking with Kimberly Moore, Vice President of Workforce Innovation, she said, "What I’ve seen as a trend it’s a national trend, statewide trend, it’s a local trend, is the increase in importance and emphasis on the skills trade. You know the difference being that skill tradesmen really understand and that they are really able to perform a job day 1.”
To register for a course you must be 18 years old with a high school diploma. The next welding course for TCC begins May 23rd.
