{"id":1234,"date":"2024-08-16T18:22:23","date_gmt":"2024-08-16T18:22:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/djcoregon.com\/skilledmag\/?p=1234"},"modified":"2025-08-21T20:56:49","modified_gmt":"2025-08-21T20:56:49","slug":"sparks-fly-as-pcc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/djcoregon.com\/skilledmag\/2024\/08\/16\/sparks-fly-as-pcc\/","title":{"rendered":"Sparks fly as PCC, Union Pacific open mobile welding trailer"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Welding graduate Keyonna Williams used her torch to cut the ceremonial chain at the unveiling of the Mobile Welding Outreach & Skills Training Center.<\/p><\/div>\n

Last fall, Portland Community College, the PCC Foundation and Union Pacific cut the chain on a new future for the college\u2019s welding training.<\/p>\n

The mobile center was made possible due to an initial investment of $375,000 over three years by Union Pacific to outfit the trailer and launch the program. Funding from a Future Ready Oregon grant covered the cost of the tractor, and longtime welding partner Vigor Industrial is providing a storage and staging area, along with equipment and materials, for the trailer and its tractor.<\/p>\n

More than 20 institutions across the country have similar welding trailers for their training outreach, including Pueblo Community College, Northwood Technical, Colorado Mesa, Red River College, and others.<\/p>\n

The mobile center brings PCC\u2019s skilled trades training programs to the student by visiting communities across the region, while building a more robust workforce pipeline for Oregon\u2019s leading industries and companies, including Union Pacific. PCC faculty can provide training on-site across the region at community-based organizations, schools, Tribal lands, and correctional facilities. The first round of visits were to the Hillsboro School District.<\/p>\n

With six booths, the mobile center can serve up to six students at a time. However, staff can stagger groups where they can serve up to 15-20 students. This training allows them to focus on passing a specific weld test, or they can focus on earning a Career Pathway Certificate. The training the students receive will provide a solid foundation for them to transition into an associate degree path.<\/p>\n

Why welding? In the manufacturing industry, there is a lack of qualified workers from which companies like Union Pacific can recruit from. With an aging workforce, there is an overwhelming shortage of welders and employment prospects in the Portland area are strong as a result. The Oregon Employment Department forecasts more than 250 welding job openings per year through 2027.<\/p>\n

One of the key benefits of welding training is that students can position themselves for lucrative career opportunities and job security in a diverse array of industries that depend on welding for their operations. Many trades use welding skills like sheet metal workers, ironworkers, boilermakers, carpenters, steamfitters, glaziers and repair and maintenance personnel in applications ranging from the home hobbyist to heavy fabrication of bridges, ships and many other projects.<\/p>\n

The PCC Welding Program offers flexible scheduling with an open-entry\/open-exit, self-paced format that fits the needs of the students. This allows students to register for full or part-time instruction by using the college weld shop. PCC offers welding classes at the Rock Creek Campus in Washington County, OMIC Training Center in Scappoose and the 4,000-square-foot Swan Island Maritime Welding Center in North Portland.<\/p>\n

Story and photos courtesy of Portland Community College.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last fall, Portland Community College, the PCC Foundation and Union Pacific cut the chain on a new future for the college\u2019s welding training. The mobile center was made possible due to an initial investment of $375,000 over three years by Union Pacific to outfit the trailer and launch the program. Funding from a Future Ready …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":1235,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18615],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-headlines"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/djcoregon.com\/skilledmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1234"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/djcoregon.com\/skilledmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/djcoregon.com\/skilledmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/djcoregon.com\/skilledmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/djcoregon.com\/skilledmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1234"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/djcoregon.com\/skilledmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1234\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/djcoregon.com\/skilledmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/djcoregon.com\/skilledmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/djcoregon.com\/skilledmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/djcoregon.com\/skilledmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}