Penn College addresses welding employment gap with training

Penn College Workforce Development is offering a short-term welding training program designed to rapidly prepare adults for entry-level welding employment across central Pennsylvania’s manufacturing, construction and fabrication sectors.

The first module of Welding Essentials is scheduled for June 15-July 17 on Pennsylvania College of Technology's main campus.

Regional employers continue to report persistent difficulty filling welding positions. A needs assessment completed by Penn College in February identified 27 employers across a nine-county region actively hiring welders, with an estimated 100 to 150 annual openings and virtually no noncredit, short-term training infrastructure to address them. Welding Essentials is designed to close that gap directly.

“The demand is real and it’s sustained,” said Sara Hillis Ousby, executive director of business and industry for Workforce Development. “Employers across the region have communicated their need for a strong welding workforce. Welding Essentials was built around exactly that standard.”

The pathway is organized into four in-person modules, each building on the previous one. The first focuses on shielded metal arc welding, the foundational process used in structural steel fabrication, construction and maintenance welding, and introduces participants to gas metal arc welding, the most widely demanded process among regional employers. Participants will progress from flat and horizontal welding positions through vertical and overhead, culminating in an official American Welding Society D1.1 welder qualification test. Those who pass will earn a process-specific AWS D1.1 qualification – the same credential that regional employers require or recognize for hiring consideration. 
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Participants will begin with a 25-hour self-paced online prerequisite through Tooling U-SME, covering welding safety, shop math, blueprint reading and basic theory. Completing this component before the first day of in-person classes allows Penn College instructors to maximize hands-on time in the shop from the first session.

“Module 1 will be taught by faculty from Penn College’s nationally recognized credit welding majors – the same instructors who teach the college’s ABET-accredited welding and fabrication engineering technology degree program and who hold the AWS credentials and industry experience to prepare participants for certification testing,” Ousby said.

No prior welding experience is required to enroll in the first module. The program is designed for adults who are unemployed, underemployed or pursuing a career change, and those who need a credible, efficient path into the trades. Classes run from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Fridays, with sessions dedicated to workforce readiness topics such as resume writing, interview preparation, financial literacy and professional communication.

Industry site tours, including a visit to High Steel Structures LLC, the region’s largest structural steel fabricator and a major welding employer, are integrated into the program schedule.

The tuition for Module 1 is $4,725 per participant. The fee includes a complete welding personal protective equipment and toolkit (welding helmet, jacket and gloves), lunch Monday through Thursday for the duration of the program, three months of access to the Tooling U-SME online platform and AWS D1.1 certification testing. On-campus housing is available at an additional cost.

Registration will remain open through June 1. Interested individuals should visit www.pct.edu/essential-welding or contact Penn College Workforce Development by calling 570-327-4775 or emailing workforce@pct.edu.

For information about Penn College’s ABET-accredited welding degrees and other majors offered by the School of Engineering Technologies, call 570-327-4520.

For information about Penn College, a national leader in applied technology education, email the Admissions Office or call toll-free 800-367-9222.