Career College developing welding-training facilities

Career College of Northern Nevada in Sparks is investing more than $700,000 to create a welding and fabrication program designed to serve the needs of northern Nevada manufacturing firms.

Nate Clark, president and chief executive officer of Career College or Northern Nevada, says enrollment for the college’s nine-month welding diploma program begins August 16. The school created the program, Clark says, after discussions with regional economic development officials who are trying to strengthen the area’s manufacturing employer base.

The price tag for the new program includes $330,000 for tenant improvements to install restrooms, office space, lighting and upgraded power meters and supply to the building to power the more than $400,000 in industrial welding training equipment such as welders, lathes, metal cutters and drill presses. The program culminates in an advanced welding diploma certified by the American Welding Society. CCNN modeled its curriculum for the program after the AWS SENSE program, which sets educational standards for welding instructional programs throughout the country.

Clark says he’ll continue to engage manufacturing firms in the area to make sure CCNN’s curriculum dovetails with their needs.

“We have asked employers to come to the table to make sure the curriculum we are teaching students is what those employers are looking for,” he says. “We’ve heard from some that students that come out of exiting training programs are not ready for the job. We are focused on making sure these students have more advanced skills so they are ready to go to work for employers in the manufacturing arena, and we are using employers input on how to develop that training.

“It will be an ongoing, continuous relationship with employers to make sure we are meeting their needs, and that should make those graduates more employable.”

General contractor K7 Construction last week installed the metal studs to partition a 7,000-square-foot building adjacent to CCNN’s main campus on Pullman Drive. George Ghusn of BJG Architecture and Engineering in Reno designed the space.