This content was published: August 22, 2008. Phone numbers, email addresses, and other information may have changed.
From Skill Center to mastering a new skill
Photos and story by Dana Haynes
OK, how cool is this:
I just got an e-mail off this blog that reads, “I have just finished the Skill Center. Please tell me what is required to be one of the welders you mention. Thanks.”
OK, first, I can’t say enough good things about James Bowles and the good people at the Margaret Carter Skill Center, situated on the Cascade Campus. This program has helped hundreds of Oregonians master the skills they need to get into the workforce. That joint is one of the best things PCC – and the entire region – has going.
Having said that, I directed the writer to pcc.edu/programs/welding. This site has all the information anyone could need about the program. The phone number is (503) 614-7600.
PCC offers day and night courses in welding at the Rock Creek Campus in Washington County. It’s an “easy in/easy out” program. Students can start it whenever they want and can move as fast or as slow as they desire.
We also offer evening classes at Vigor Industrial on Swan Island.
Almost every week, President Pulliams gets a call from an employer, begging for more welders. One guy told us recently that he was importing welders from the Gulf Coast states, where Katrina brought the manufacturing industry to a standstill. That’s because he couldn’t get welders from Oregon.
These are well-paying jobs we’re talking about.
Should voters OK the bond this November (74 days away…) we would be able to expand welding to the Southeast Center at Southeast 82nd Avenue and Division.
Send your feedback to dana.haynes@pcc.edu. And thanks in advance.
About Dana Haynes
Dana Haynes, joined PCC in 2007 as the manager of the Office of Public Affairs, directing the college's media and government relations. Haynes spent the previous 20 years as a reporter, columnist and editor for Oregon newspapers, including ... more »