Grant Award from Department of Labor
Lamar State College-Orange has been awarded a $1,526,700 grant to begin a welding training program for the maritime construction industry of Orange County. This is one industry that has experienced overwhelmingly high growth in the months since Hurricane Rita. LSC-O was one of 72 community college partnerships selected by the U.S. Department of Labor to receive $125 million of the President’s Community-Based Job Training Grants Initiative.
LSC-O is the lead partner of a partnership which includes a variety of other businesses from the community. B&E Resources, Beacon-Maritime, Orange Shipbuilding, Signal International, Tubal-Cain, , Little Cypress-Mauriceville CISD, West Orange-Cove CISD, Vidor ISD, Navigation and Port District of Orange, the Texas Workforce Center, Orange County Economic Development Corporation, the Greater Orange Area Chamber of Commerce and Greater Orange Area Literacy Services (GOALS) are all partners in the venture and will each fulfill a necessary role for the success of the program.
The proposed training and capacity building activities involve a unique combination of 80 hours of intense classroom training followed by full-time paid internships with one of the employer partners. The employer will provide skills testing for the students and after two weeks of on-the-job training, the students return to the classroom part-time for advanced training. Capacity for future training will be built by increasing the number of trainees in years two and three of the grant period and by eventually creating a college-credit program resulting in certificates or associate’s degrees.
The $1,526,700 will be received over a three-year period. This grant project will also receive $65,500 in cash contributions and other valuable resources from the strategic partners. These contributions include a facility from the Port of Orange upon completion of renovations; recruitment efforts from the Texas Workforce Center and the Economic Development Corporation; a welding instructor to serve on the project advisory committee from the school districts to aid in curriculum develop and promote the continuation of learning to high school welding students; and classroom furniture & computers donated by WO-C CISD.
Financial contributions will come from the Port of Orange and the Economic Development Corporation; the Workforce Investment Act to provide funding for resume writing and work ethic courses from the TWC and the GOACOC to provide “English as a Second Language” training to interested participants.
In addition to the financial contributions from B&E Resources, Beacon-Maritime, Orange Shipbuilding, Signal International, Tubal-Cain, other contributions will include in-kind expertise of welding & maritime industry and job market knowledge, employment during and after training, on-the-job training, competency testing at different skill levels, equipment & consumables for student practice and membership on the advisory board for the new college-credit program after the end of the grant period.
Community-Based Job Training Grants seek to strengthen the role of community colleges in promoting the U.S. workforce's full potential. The grants are employer-focused and build on the President's High Growth Job Training Initiative, a national model for demand-driven workforce development implemented by strategic partnerships between the workforce investment system, employers and community colleges and other training providers. The primary purpose of the CBJT grants is to build the capacity of community colleges to train workers to develop the skills required to succeed in high-growth/high-demand industries.
For information about the welding program contact Angela Reeves of the LSC-O Office of Continuing Education and Workforce Development at (409) 882-3966.
