‘It didn’t just help me in my career, it gave me a career’

Rachel Kroeger

Staff

December 2, 2024

FOND DU LAC – A program at Moraine Park Technical College (MPTC) designed to teach anyone how to weld is now accepting applicants through Jan. 27 for the 2025 winter semester beginning Feb 19.

Abby Pluim, MPTC’s economic and workforce development Boot Camp project manager, said the Boot Camp program was established in 2012 to help laborers who had their jobs moved overseas and needed to learn a new skill.

Over the next 14 years – now having graduated 206 participants through 26 welding boot camps – Pluim said the program grew to become open to anyone.

“We have people who come straight out of high school,” she said. “We have people who have made a job change. We have people who are very much down on their luck, and this is kind of the last resort. We have a little bit of everybody coming in.”

Pluim said the Boot Camp program gives those using it as a launch pad for a career in welding a leg up in the hiring process after graduation.

“For those who come into (the program) with the intention of making this a long-term career opportunity – which is probably about 50% of (students) – this puts them a couple of steps ahead of somebody who comes in without skills, without experience,” she said.

Work-school balance

Pluim said unlike most professional certificate programs at other educational institutions in the state, the MPTC Boot Camp program doesn’t require participants to have a GED or HSED.

The purpose of this program, she said, is to provide those who need a little extra support the opportunity to enter into a welding career without the financial pressure of tuition or having to work full-time while also pursuing their certification.

“We have a couple of business partners that have been with us from the very beginning,” Pluim said. “They’re outstanding at giving people that opportunity to get in the door.”

MPTC’s 16-week Boot Camp program, Pluim said, is specifically designed so participants are able to work and study at the same time – interning at one of its business partners while taking classes.

After students are accepted into the program, Pluim said they’re asked to create a resume and cover letter to apply to those internships.

“Obviously, (students) know they’re not quite qualified, but our business partners are wonderful, and they know that this is how this program works,” she said. “They have to be onboarded by the day the boot camp starts so that we can then start training them.”

Once participants are placed with a company, Pluim said they spend the first three weeks of the program attending classes before going off to work.

“The next eight to nine weeks, they work one day a week at that internship employer – coming back to class and learning what they don’t know at the job,” she said. “Then the last two weeks they work full-time.”

Pluim said after graduation, 85%-95% of program participants end up continuing their employment with the same company they were interning with once they graduate from the boot camp.

“It’s pretty remarkable how many students have come through the boot camp, worked at their company and actually still do,” she said.

Mary Davies, associate dean of credentialed programming for MPTC, said the program has positively impacted her family, as her son, Eric Stierna, graduated from MPTC’s Welding Boot Camp in 2021.

“He had an internship with a company in Lomira, and he is still there,” she said. “So three years later, he is still with the employer that took him on as an intern. He really enjoys the culture of the company that he’s working for.”

Community business partnerships

Because MPTC’s Boot Camp program hinges on having those community business partnerships, Pluim said a lot of the credit goes to them.

“Our program has advisory committees and community and business partners throughout the area – throughout the district,” she said. “We couldn’t do it all without them.”

Wabash – a logistics and transportation solutions manufacturer based out of Fond du Lac – has been a MPTC Boot Camp business partner since the program’s inception according to Nathan Glander, a human resources manager for Wabash, said.

“On average, we hire three interns at the end of each semester to full-time status,” he said. “I can say that many graduates of the program have found careers with us and other businesses in the consortium.”

Glander added that with a predicted shortage of 314,000-400,000 U.S.-based welders in the coming years, partnerships with educational institutions like MPTC are essential to bolster Wabash’s workforce.

“Opportunities like the Welding Boot Camp are not only a lifeline for the interns looking for new careers, it also ensures we can continue to grow our business,” he said.

Being able to keep employees right now, Pluim said, is a challenge no matter where you are.

“But the retention of Boot Camp students with those companies really says a lot about who we’re in (business) with,” she said.

Davies said the program’s business partners are also aware of the additional challenges some participants may have and are equipped to provide them with the support they need to be successful in their internships and beyond.

“(Some) individuals (have) childcare challenges or transportation challenges, or sometimes food challenges,” she said. “So a lot of times, mentors and people at the companies take the individuals under their wing and give them the time and attention that they need to develop them into great employees.”

No tuition required

Another key aspect of maintaining the program’s accessibility, Pluim said, is the fact that students don’t have to pay tuition to attend the program.

“There’s a $39 application fee to the college – so they have to pay (that) to come in,” she said. “But besides that, it’s at no cost to the student, and we’re able to do that because of the WAT (Workforce Advancement Training) grants.”

The WAT grants, according to MPTC’s website, have been distributed by the Wisconsin Technical College System since 2005 to “support employers in their efforts to retain and advance the skills of their workforce.”

Per its website, MPTC applied for and received full funding from six WAT grants totaling $1,178,314 – the highest in the state for two consecutive years.

“Being able to continue offering (the program) at no cost is also what keeps everybody invested,” Pluim said. “Everybody’s willing to take a second chance when there’s a little less nerves and, you know, a little less money involved. We can really do a lot of things because of that grant funding.”

Though the Boot Camp program can be utilized as a stand-alone resource for proactive students, Pluim said it was always intended to be a pipeline into the other programs at MPTC.

“I don’t want it to get lost that we are intended to be a pathway into our welding program and into our college,” she said. “Our college welding program is awesome.”

Pluim said the Boot Camp pipeline doesn’t necessarily lead a student into the MPTC welding program – sharing a story of a student who started in the Boot Camp program and ended up studying nursing through MPTC afterward.

“This has always been a really great first step, but we’re always encouraging people to keep learning, stay connected,” she said. “It’s just that you have a job while you (go through Boot Camp), and that makes that pathway a little bit easier.”

Kieron Edwards, a recent graduate of MPTC’s Boot Camp program, said it didn’t just help him in his career, it “gave” him a career.

“Through the internship that was facilitated through the program, I was perfectly guided from not knowing the first thing about welding, to working full-time as a welder in no time at all,” he said. “No matter what your end goal is, the MPTC Welding Boot Camp is a great place to start your journey!”

To learn more about and apply to the MPTC Welding Boot Camp program, visit morainepark.edu.