Southeast Community College plans $30 million facility for welding department

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – On Friday, the government said the U.S. added around 390,000 jobs in May.

One of the jobs in high demand, especially here in Nebraska, is skilled welders.

The Southeast Community College Lincoln campus has multiple construction projects going on. Its newest, which is just in the fundraising phase right now, will be for the welding department.

The college is hoping to break ground in less than a year.

Bev Cummins, director of the Lincoln campus, said SCC wants to double the number of work areas for welding students.

“We currently have about 80, and we would like to get to about 160,” she said.

With more space for students, the college will be able to grow its attendance.

“It will impact our student enrollment tremendously,” Cummins said. “The college is looking to increase enrollment by a good 15%.”

Cummins said the welding department is bursting at the seams and has to turn away students and business partners far too often.

“This allows us the capacity to work directly with our employers and help provide them with the training they need for their current workforce to train in different types of welds: outdoors, and even maybe someday looking at underwater welding and other areas of welding.,” Cummins said. “Just so we can meet not only the current demand but the future demand for skilled welders.”

Partnering with different companies in and around Nebraska could save time for students looking for jobs, as they would already be are working with possible employers.

“We find that our students oftentimes don’t even finish, as they get hired before they even graduate,” Cummins said.

The demand for welders continues to grow, and having a skilled welding school right in Lincoln could help employers keep workers in Nebraska.

“Black Hills is always looking for talented individuals who are educated in the trades, specifically welding. We do definitely have the need, especially in Nebraska,” said Jessie Andazola, operations supervisor at Black Hills Energy.

Cummins said 90% of SCC welding graduates are employed in Nebraska.

“So what an amazing investment that is for our industries and our communities,” he said.

In today’s economy, construction prices are a little hard to predict, but SCC is estimating that this project will cost around $30 million, including all of the equipment inside of the building.