Galveston College launches new shopfitter program
Last fall, Galveston College launched a new shipfitter program. It is a course that's attracted all kinds of students.
"I'm 38 years old," Kristopher Edmundson said. "I came from the refineries. I like the stability here."
"I got an email from the college after completing the program to be a pipefitter helper," Alice Blackwater recalled.
It's a 22-month program, where students not only study in the classroom, but also work at Gulf Copper Davie.
It is a program where tuition is covered, and students get paid $15 to $19 an hour.
"That's helps out," Edmundson explained. "I'm able to take care of my family. I'm able to do all the things I need to do while learning a new craft."
"I think it's great," Blackwater said. "Being able to start a new career without the massive debt."
College officials said they're looking for more students for its September courses.
A shopfitter program to train workers for something that hasn't been done in decades
The governor's office said the company is expanding its shipbuilding capacity to add 2,400 new jobs in our area. Officials said filling those jobs can be struggle because there hasn't been a need for a while.
"This is the first time that ships are going to be built in 81 years, since the end of World War II," Gulf Copper Davie manager, Robert Schwager, explained.
To help them find workers, they received a grant to cover students' cost. Company leaders said it is a program that goes beyond the nearly two-year course.
"After the apprentice graduates from the program, they'll be offered full-time employment at Gulf Copper as a shipfitter," Schwager said.
What exactly are students learning to build
Students aren't working on battleships, but ice breakers. They're vessels the company said that help with arctic trade, and national defense.
"The Russians have 54," Schwager explained. "We have to play a lot of catch up on that with a national strategy. The Coast Guard is committed to have eleven ships built."
With some of them being constructed along the Gulf Coast, it is a vessel that could steer students in a new direction.
"It's a great opportunity for somebody. As long as you don't mind the heat and elements, it's building right now and it's something even bigger than you can imagine," Edmundson said.
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