In The News

The state has awarded a $75,000 grant to help teach welding to more than 100 Kilgore College students.

The announcement came during the grand opening of the Kilgore Economic Development Corp. Advanced Technology Center and the Kilgore College Advanced Welding Academy.

"Congratulations to this community for this incredible accomplishment," said Hope Andrade, a Texas Workforce Commission commissioner. "You have built a resource for this community that will answer the workforce demands for your current and future businesses for many successful years to come."

Andrade, who served as Texas' secretary of state from 2008 to 2012, said the city is "ahead of the curve."

"I will be honest with you. There are many other communities that are just now coming to the table and starting to put together a plan for a training center like the one we are standing in today," she said. "So, Kilgore, I am here to tell you that you are ahead of the game, and you are changing the trajectory of this community forever.

The 18,000-square-foot facility across U.S. 259 from Synergy Park on FM 349 will provide an area for welding students to improve their skills.

In December, Kilgore College trustees considered a lease agreement to open the Advanced Welding Academy at the site.

"For someone who did their career in music, voice pedagogue, German, that kind of stuff, learning about welding was a whole new world," Kilgore College President Bill Holda said. "I didn't have to learn a lot. I certainly can't do it, but I had to at least learn enough to know what was going to happen here.

"I already knew that in our basic welding program that after about six weeks, a number of our students get hired out immediately and go to work for various industries doing a fairly low level of welding, but they can earn 10 to 15 bucks an hour."

Holda said industries want a more specialized skill set.

"The concept is that students who have been through certification 1 and 2 here, then could take an entry level exam, come in to this curriculum, learn what they need to do to go to the next level, have a real-life fabrication operation going on here in which they could intern, become highly skilled for that specific industry, take an appropriate exit exam and instead of making $10 to $15 an hour, on an average somewhere in the $25 to $35 range," Holda said.

The property was dedicated with a ceremony that included flag dedications by U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Tyler, and a representative from state Rep. David Simpson's office.

Officials with the city of Kilgore, Kilgore College, KEDC, and Kilgore ISD were on hand for the dedication, which culminated in Andrade welding a piece of metal.

"Unless the EPA shuts down our coal power plants, things are going to get brighter and brighter for Texas, and especially East Texas, and, you know, we don't have people with the requisite requirements that they need to take and fill these jobs," Gohmert said.

The lawmaker said the academy could be a place where retired welders can give back to the community.

"This is also an opportunity for people that have retired. Their brain still works great, they body functions great and they realize, wow, I am 65, but I still have got a lot to offer," he said. "I think we will see days in the future when you will have people over 65 out here from the community, using their great training and experience to help these young people become even better than they dreamed," Gohmert said.

J. Ty Sharp, president of the KEDC Board of Directors, said the facility has one goal.

"The goal of this center is to produce a pipeline of skilled workers for our area. We have partnered with Kilgore College to deliver a customized job training program, the first of which is welding," he said. "Hopefully, there will be others as we go forward. The KEDC board believes that the center is good not only for economic development but also for our businesses, for the community, for our citizens, and for education."

KEDC Executive Director Amanda Nobles said welding always has been an area in which increased specialization is needed.

"The end we see today is not the end," she said. "It is the beginning."