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Training programs abound in region
youngstown
A number of programs exist locally for people who hope to find positions in the shale industry.
The various schools and colleges in the area are working to find ways they can provide training to attract those interested in shale jobs, primarily using existing programs.
There needs to be some additional funding from the state so schools can afford to develop and offer new programs in this growing field, said William Bussey, superintendent at Mid-East Career and Technology Centers in Zanesville.
“The problem is this year the state has put us on a flat budget,” he said. “There isn’t room to add one program without cutting another.”
Columbiana County C&TC
Welding is one of the main training areas at Columbiana County Career and Technical Center that relate to the shale industry, said Kelly Weikart, adult education director.
“We try to offer staggered courses so people can come in once a course has started,” she said.
In addition to training courses, the center also offers tests so people can get certified without taking the course, Weikart said.
“People come in all the time and say they know how to do something, they just lack the certification,” she said. “But if you can’t pass the test, get yourself into a class.”
The programs are available to both high school students and for adult education, Weikart said.
Eastern Gateway Community College
Anyone considering work in the oil and gas industry should go online and look at http://www.shalenet.org/, said Tracee Joltes, assistant director of workforce development at Eastern Gateway Community College.
The program through Eastern Gateway provides a certification from Safeland USA. A safety certificate and CPR certification are required by nearly all oil and gas companies, she said.
“We just finished a class at our Warren center with 13 graduates, and they were great,” Joltes said. “They came from a heavy equipment background.”
The program has an in-depth orientation as well to make sure participants are prepared for the requirements, Joltes said. “Typically the people who can’t do it cull themselves out,” she said.
The next Eastern Gateway shale course is scheduled for August, but will be in Jefferson County, she said. Training at Eastern Gateway is free through a U.S. Department of Labor grant, but to get into the program people must complete a screening process.
The programs will be free as long as the grant is in place and Eastern Gateway is trying to work with the government and industry to continue to provide the training free of charge, Joltes said.
ETI Technical College of Niles
ETI Technical College is offering a free seminar to all in-school students and alumni about the job opportunities available due to Marcellus and Utica shale.
This seminar provides an overview of natural gas and oil history, development and job opportunities in Ohio. Twenty percent of the available jobs in the oil and gas industry will be for administrative-assistant positions, office staff, oil and gas accounting, receptionist and managers, according to ETI information.
Mahoning county C&TC
The Mahoning County Career and Technical Center has just restarted its welding program to meet the needs of employers working within oil and gas, said John Zehentbauer, career and technical director for MCCTC.
“The first group of high school juniors will start in the fall,” he said.
MCCTC also has a combined certified industry technology program that combines machining, maintenance and welding.
“I talk to people from the industry all the time, and they tell me they’ll need one maintenance person at each site, and that person will have to know how to weld and do some machining,” Zehentbauer said.
Even the school’s fire safety program has been changed to include training with well fires, he said.
New Castle School of Trades
There are several programs available at the New Castle School of Trades that would help someone get a start in oil and gas drilling.
The truck driving program is one of the main programs, said Rex Spaulding, president of the school.
There are also opportunities available in the welding, electrical, heavy equipment operation and machinist programs, he said.
“We tweaked some of programs to make them more related to the Marcellus Shale,” he said.
The truck-driving program course also trained to simulate the dirt roads, hills and tree-lined highways that will be part of driving to drilling sites, Spaulding said.
“It’s certainly different than driving up and down the turnpike,” he said.
There are a number of opportunities through education in geology, chemistry and other majors that people do not know about. But the majority of jobs will be in the technical fields where they will have to be out working at a drill site, Spaulding said.
Training at New Castle takes between six weeks to 13 months depending on the program. Each program is designed to be hands on and fast-paced, he said.