Sparked by growth. UM-Helena and Miller Electric Collaborate to Train Future Employees. "It’s a great time to be a welder".

As development continues, the need for welders is on the rise

In 30 years as a welder at Asarco, Tim Harris saw metal technology change dramatically. Today’s equipment is far lighter, faster and more efficient than what he learned on decades ago.

Now, in his sixth year as welding instructor at the UM-Helena College of Technology, Harris is seeing another change that makes him smile: the demand for welders across the country is booming.

“Some years ago, we had to call employers to ask if they were hiring,” Harris said. “Now, the phone is ringing off the hook. I’d say conservatively that each student has 10 offers to go to work.”

In some cases, Harris said employers aren’t waiting until students are fully trained — companies call early in the school year, asking if students are available to train on-site after hours.

…

UM-Helena serves as a regional training center for Miller in something of a unique relationship: The company provides its latest machines and equipment free of charge to the college. In exchange, Miller can use the shop and classroom a few times a year to train its dealers across the region on the latest technology.

“It’s a win-win situation,” said Jim Lamphiear, Stevensville-based district manager for Miller. “The college gets to use the equipment, and the company gets a long-term benefit because the students get out of here trained on our equipment and ready to go to work with it.”

By JOHN HARRINGTON – IR Business Editor

Full Story: http://www.helenair.com/articles/2006/08/20/business/e01082006_01.txt

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Where Have All the Welders Gone,
As Manufacturing, Repair Boom?

By Ilan Brat

From The Wall Street Journal Online

It’s a great time to be a welder.

Months before he graduated from the four-year welding-engineering program at Ferris State University, in Big Rapids, Mich., 21-year-old Will Chemin had two offers for jobs paying $50,000-plus. The one he took, working in Dubuque, Iowa, for Deere & Co., the Moline, Ill., equipment company, pays $55,500 a year, plus a $2,500 signing bonus and full relocation coverage. "It takes off a lot of stress during the school year, that’s for sure," Mr. Chemin says.

Welding, a dirty and dangerous job, has fallen out of favor over the past two decades, as young skilled laborers pursue cleaner, safer and less physically demanding work. Now, thanks to a global boom in industrial manufacturing, skilled welders are in greater demand than ever. Companies can’t find enough of them.

Full Story: http://www.careerjournal.com/salaryhiring/industries/manufacturing/20060821-brat.html?cjcontent=mail