Training without equipment

Date 10-09-2013 17:54

Hello Dennis,

Hopefully some of the instructors who frequent this forum will chime in, but...

I know there are grants out there for those who qualify. If none of the guys here have knowledge of that I will put you in touch with one of the community college welding instructors here is AZ who can give you some help. He is one of my AZ Section chairmen on the SENSE and Student Affairs committee. Very knowledgeable about these things.

You can also usually get some help from local businesses. Check around with companies in the area that need welders. Let them know you would love to help educate and train employees for them but you need assistance to get better equipment.

I'll watch here and see if others give you some good suggestions for grants.

Have a Great Day, Brent

By 46.00

Date 10-09-2013 18:08

Dennis, it's a very noble thing you do. We can't train future tradesmen without the proper equipment and in this day and age, funding seems to be at an all time low with little or no excuses for refusing 'expensive' equipment prices. I really hope that you can find some sort of relatively modern gear for the pupils to learn on! I'm sure you will receive some good advice on here!

By dschlotz (***)

Date 10-10-2013 00:41

Thanks for your kind words. I am not noble though, but I have made a good living at this business and would like to prove that metal shop at the high school level can be more than a class for those that can't make it in academics. Some of these kids are really talented and could go places with training. There eyes really opened big when I showed them my scrap book. They are all San Francisco Giants fans. I built the structural steel for the Coke Bottle at the Giants ball park. That got there attention. They have the interest they just need the tools.

By dschlotz (***)

Date 10-10-2013 00:25

In northern California, where I am located, there only three companies that hire welders. Two are owned by one Corp. and the other is not doing much. I have tapped out the big two. They donate scrap steel and let me shear it up for the school. I am still on the books as an employee, even though retired. I really don't have much else to pull from in my area. I really don't want to wear out my welcome.

By welderbrent (*****)

Date 10-10-2013 12:59

It can become a wearisome task when it seems we are fighting the fight all alone. But trust me, you are not alone. Others are going through it, and others have found means where it appeared there were none.

Allan and Lawrence are great resources. My guy is in Kingman. An area where there would not appear to be much. Yet it is surprising what he has come up with.

Now, Northern CA? That is indeed a scattered area for population. But, it is a bit vague. Sacramento is N CA. I am thinking more along the lines of places like Quincy, Yreka, Weed, and so many other farming, ranching, logging communities? And you might be surprised what some of those people would come up with and how many small repair facilities there are servicing them. Don't look strictly for large shops. My business is a small welding job shop. But we help out here in our community.

Have a Great Day, Brent

By dschlotz (***)

Date 10-10-2013 18:05

I am in the Eureka area of Humboldt County 250 miles north of San Francisco, on the coast.

By Lawrence (*****)

Date 10-09-2013 18:24

Yes to grants and all that stuff. But:

This is a thing that might be right up your alley.

Help your school build an advisory committee.. You be the chair if that is what it takes.

Go personally to all the manufacturers, contractors and factories...

Ask them for scrap, make friends.. It's shocking how many of those places have old machines, torches, even line burners that are sitting in a corner.

Tell them you will teach what they do....

You can build a bin so that they can have all the scrap returned so they can get the recycle value, or your school district has a "foundation" which will provide tax credit for items donated to your school

Teachers often don't have time to harvest these relationships... But maybe you do have the time?

It's a goldmine.

It might lead to some great 3rd party consultation/CWI/training type work and income for you too....

By dschlotz (***)

Date 10-10-2013 00:31

Please see above post. I did try to get some old equipment, and that's just what I got. I had a Victor VU130 track torch and they gave me a Victor VU160. Both are in need of repair and the missing parts would be too expensive if even available. I think that I have tapped the mine out already.

By aevald

Date 10-10-2013 14:55

Hello again Dennis, I thought of a few more things that you could consider if you haven't already tapped into or contacted these folks. Where is the closest post-secondary community college, vocational or technical college, and do you know if they have welding programs and if there have been any relationships with them in the past? In my neck of the woods we try very hard to form and maintain relationships with all of the area high schools whether they have metals/welding programs or not. We also have articulation agreements with them that can provide advanced placement into our programs on a custom basis(some schools are "better" at the training that they do for some of the exact reasons that you are fighting to improve) thus we will allow more or less credits of advanced placement to students out of their programs.

Those post-secondary facilities are sometimes allowed to surplus their equipment to a school such as yours, so this might provide you with an avenue to do some upgrading even if it isn't necessarily current technology(likely it would be a step above your current situation). If you are wondering why these folks would consider helping you out, I'll put it this way. They don't have guaranteed students, they are generally interested in promoting their programs and providing a stream of students into their programs from one such as yours. It will have a serious affect on their funding sources when they are short on enrollment and that alone should provide an impetus for them to help you out.

When it comes to the budget that the school has available to take care of this program you might consider going in and speaking with the principal or whoever is responsible for the oversight on this budget and find out how they view scrap sales and where the money from this ends up. In many cases and due to how the funding model is set up at some schools, monies such as this end up in general fund. A lot of the time this is because no one has questioned it. If you take the time to present your case for use of these monies to supplement the program directly they will do just that. Our scrap money ends up in a foundation account that we have access to and allows us to purchase a variety of needed items, we only need to receive approval from our dean. Gotta go for now sir, will try to get back with any other thoughts later. Good luck and best regards, Allan

By aevald

Date 10-10-2013 07:07

Hi Dennis, I hadn't had the time to sit down and reply to your thread until now. I teach at a community college and I am very fortunate to have good support from a variety of sources so I'll throw out my $.02 for your consideration. Is there a local AWS section that you might have access to? If so see about going to one or more of their meetings and voice your concerns, needs, and desires. They might be able to hook you up with folks who can supply new or used equipment to help with your equipment shortcomings.

I believe that Lawrence made mention of foundations, likely the high school doesn't have such an organization, yet possibly a visit to the school district superintendent might yield the information and contacts within the high schools business office that is necessary to provide information to offer tax incentives and other options for possible donations from businesses or private individuals. While you are talking to this group of folks try to find out what connections your school district has to the state surplus equipment system, there could be resources there that could provide equipment at unbelievably low or "free" price scenarios.

Are there any community service organizations that are local to your area? Such as: Lions, YMCA, Habitat for Humanity, or any other such similar organizations that could help under the heading that this directly aids youth and could possibly prevent at-risk youth from taking a wrong turn in their lives. If you can enlighten them about the positives that your program could provide and the importance of this as an option, they might directly or indirectly be able to help with various types of assistance to provide you with support. This might sound a little bit funny but you might consider contacting churches, the Boy Scouts of America chapter, or other similar groups. All of these folks are about providing opportunity and avenues of success for youth. If you pitch them on all of the positives of a good trade they may be able to step in and assist as well.

What type of union presence do you have in your area? I ask this because often the unions will have training centers that they have available to their members for upgrade and apprenticeship training. By entering into conversations with them you might be able to work out a solution whereby they would provide equipment to outfit your shop and at the same time offer a place that the union could use in the evenings or on weekends for their training needs in exchange for the equipment availability to supplement your program. This may or not be an option depending on whether they currently have this covered with facilities or their own, yet, you may find that if you are able to start this conversation and it turns out that they are in need of something like this it could be a win/win for both parties. There could be "many" unions who could be interested in such an arrangement.

Another possibility might go along the lines of determining who is responsible for the school's public relations and approach them to see if they would arrange for advertising or other promotional information possibilities through the use of media sources to allow you or others to explain the programs needs and hopefully receive a community response in the form of cash donations or equipment gifts. You may find that once people are made aware of a need they are willing to respond. You might even consider having an open house, if you can get folks to come to your facilities and see what you are having to try to work with to provide training for these students this will further support your cause.

What sorts of hardware, home improvement, or other stores do you have in your area? We hold a yearly high school welding competition at our school and my partner has had tremendous success going out to Lowes, Home Depot, and other local hardware and supply stores and receiving donations of equipment, supplies, and even sometimes welding machines (small wire feed machines) for our competition. Some of the larger chains actually have a line item in their budgets for community help/service that allows them to provide these opportunities. Our local welding suppliers will sometimes kick in with great stuff as well. I know that you made mention of only being offered reduced pricing on equipment from your welding supplier, yet you may find that if you massage this relationship you might find that they can do better than that. Try finding out the names and contact information of their district factory reps. If you are able to have conversations with these individuals they might be able to help you on a corporate level with some of your needs. You might consider inviting them to your shop and laying out the challenges that you face. This might provide them with the ammunition to take to their superiors and give credence to your needs and provide the outlets that these folks use to provide free support.

Gotta run for now, I know I'll probably think of some more things given a little bit of time. You are doing a great service and there are folks out there who will share in your passion so don't give up. Good luck and best regards, Allan