NTI welding building worth investment, industry reps say

NWA Democrat-Gazette/DAVE PEROZEK Derek Gibson, a Northwest Technical Institute board member, listens Monday during a board meeting in Springdale. Fellow board members Anthony Doss (left) and Tommy Free are seen in the background.
NWA Democrat-Gazette/DAVE PEROZEK Derek Gibson, a Northwest Technical Institute board member, listens Monday during a board meeting in Springdale. Fellow board members Anthony Doss (left) and Tommy Free are seen in the background.

SPRINGDALE -- The large need for welders in the region justifies Northwest Technical Institute building a facility for its program, industry representatives said.

Employers shared their perspective this week with the school's board after renewed scrutiny of the building project.

New board member

Anthony Doss joined the Northwest Technical Institute’s board Tuesday. Doss, the vice president of engineering at Tyson Foods, replaced Marianne Neighbors, whose term ended last month. Board members are appointed by the governor.

Source: Staff report

Perry Webb, president and chief executive officer of the Springdale Chamber of Commerce, urged the board to consider spending its money on other programs he said had greater needs.

Construction of the 14,000-square-foot welding building is expected to start this summer and be completed by next summer. The board originally agreed to pursue the project three years ago.

Derek Gibson, who joined the board last year, recently asked school officials for an itemized budget for the project, industry data on welding jobs and historical student enrollment and graduation numbers in the program. The board held a special meeting Monday to review the information.

High on Gibson's list of concerns is the amount of money available to equip the building. He suggested the school put the project on hold for a month while it tries to drum up more financial support from industry partners to pay for additional equipment.

None of the other three board members at the meeting argued in favor of delaying the $3 million project. President Blake Robertson expressed confidence the school has what it needs to proceed. Officials said they expect to receive a grant of more than $600,000 from the Arkansas Department of Career Education to pay for additional equipment.

Robertson said the school has done its due diligence and has a contract signed on the project.

"So we need to get that done," he said.

Gibson said he understood, but noted a former set of board members approved the project.

"So that's why we're talking about it. That's why we're doing it in this lengthy format, because we're just now getting this information," he said.

Legacy Construction Management in Fayetteville earned the right to manage the project with a low bid of $2.63 million -- about $30,000 under budget. The firm received approval June 26 to begin the work.

The project was bid twice because the first round of bids exceeded the school's budget. Items were removed from the plan to lower the price, said Richard Alderman, chairman of the board for Wittenberg, Delony & Davidson Architects, the firm that designed the building.

"We built you all the building we could build you for this amount of money," Alderman told the board.

Gibson asked school officials to "validate and quantify" the industry's need for welders.

Robertson provided data showing Northwest Arkansas' total employment of welders, cutters, solderers and brazers was 554 in the first quarter of this year. That's expected to increase by 63 over the next seven years, an average annual growth rate of 1.6%, according to Chmura Economics and Analytics.

Aaron Wright, a board member and longtime member of the American Welding Society, said the need for welders is clear.

"Anyone that runs a welding business is scrounging for anybody they can get," Wright said, adding businesses are setting up their own welding "schools" to train their workers.

Rick Barrows, president of Multi-Craft Contractors in Springdale, said there will be a need to replace many welders who will be retiring soon. He said he fully endorses the building project.

Shannon Wintgens said she spends a lot of time trying to find qualified welders as human resources manager for Armi Contractors in Fayetteville.

"We've been known to pay to relocate welders of a certain skill set here because we don't have it," Wintgens said.

Webb offered a different perspective. He asked the board to consider how the school's money could be spent to make the greatest impact. There are three times more open positions for certified nursing assistants and six times more open diesel technician jobs in Northwest Arkansas than there are open welding positions, Webb said. The institute has certification programs for both fields.

"So I hope as we look at this impact conversation, let's align the dollars with the areas we have the highest demand. I don't think that's happening here, quite frankly," Webb said.

Robertson said Northwest Technical has made investments in other programs, but hasn't done anything to boost the welding program.

The new building is expected to double the number of welding stations from 20 to 40. The school has turned down 79 applicants to the program over the past three years, according to officials.

Applicants are selected based on a number of factors including grade point average, an interview and a dexterity test, said Mark Mansell, chairman of the welding department. The program takes a year to complete and costs about $6,439, according to the school's website.

Arkansas' mean annual wage for welders, solderers and brazing machine setters, operators and tenders was $40,830 as of May 2018, according to the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics.

NW News on 07/15/2019

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