SPRINGDALE -- Northwest Technical Institute needs to expand to train more students for jobs needed by local industry, officials say.
Directors of each of the school's educational departments expressed their needs to Jacob Oliva, the state secretary of education, as he toured the school Thursday.
Debra Walker, director of the practical nursing department, said a nursing skills laboratory with four beds gets pretty crowded with 28 students all needing hands-on learning.
Kendra Thompson, director of the school's surgical technology program, said she had received calls this week about 15 job openings from area health care providers.
Upskill NWA, a program of the Excellerate Foundation and the Walton Family Foundation, last year gave the school $3 million to build a larger building for medical technology training.
Construction of the facility will cost $15 million, and the school is charged with raising the rest of it, reported Jim Rollins, president of the school.
Rollins in January told the school's Board of Directors he has applied for a $5 million grant from the state.
Oliva, who became education secretary in January, said the state has not promised any money yet. "I'm still in the learning phase," he said.
The school trains approximately 100 medical workers a year, Walker said. The new facility would allow the school to train about 300.
"It's exciting to see these programs," Oliva said. "Not every student is on a path to the university. We want to provide value in their education."
The value would be professional certifications the students earn by the end of their courses, he said.
Oliva asked students in each career program how many of them already have jobs secured after their training. In every program, more than half raised their hands.
"We have a 100% graduation rate," said John Martin, an instructor in the diesel technology program.
Allison Zamayoa said she will be working as a technician for McKee Foods, where her father is a truck driver.
"I really love air brakes," she said, when Oliva asked why she enrolled. "And I really like the instructors."
Walker also spoke about salaries of nursing instructors as most are "aging out" of the field.
Nurses earn starting salaries of about $52,000. Nursing instructors earn $45,000, Walker said.
"The teachers' salaries are lower than starting salaries of students they teach," Walker said. "It's a calling to teach when you could walk out of here today and earn $120,000 working somewhere else."
David Stephenson, owner of Stephenson Refrigeration Services and a factory authorized contractor for Manitowoc, voiced another concern: the cost of keeping up with changing technology in refrigeration programs.
Stephenson had organized a short-session professional development course for about 50 technicians from 16 different companies. They listened to a Manitowoc trainer tell them to keep things simple when assessing an ice maker.
"Be sure and check to see if it's plugged in. Keep it simple, stupid," he said.
More space and more money would help the school host more, which is a real need, Stephenson said. Technicians can receive training for one or two days in Northwest Arkansas rather than having to travel and stay overnight in other cities.
Oliva said his visit to the school gave him an understanding of the importance of partnerships and support from various industries.
Fulton Boiler Works donated two new boilers to power the equipment in a new facility where students can be certified for careers in ammonia and refrigeration technology.
The boilers would cost about $700,000 to $800,000 each, said Mike Hamley, vice president of finance. The state-of-the-art center will open this summer, he said.
Walmart donated a diesel truck for the commercial driver's license program. Area surgeons come to the school to simulate surgeries with surgical tech students, Thompson said as Oliva watched.
"Their future workforce is training on actual equipment," said Ashley Simpson, director of the school's Secondary Center. "They will take their skills to industry to find work."
The Secondary Center staff works to provide skill training programs in area school districts.
Simpson said students also rely on industry partnerships to help pay for their educations.
"We support career training, We support online training. We also support college," she said. "But let's get them some skills so they can go through college."
Dakota Maples is a star welding student, his instructors say. Maples gives them all the credit. The program helped get him out of a bad job situation.
"They've taught me everything I know, so far," he said. "And things are going good for me now. I've got my skills, I have a job. I even got married."
Arkansas Secretary of Education Jacob Oliva (second from right) visits a nursing tech class Thursday at Northwest Technical Institute in Springdale. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/Spencer Tirey)
Arkansas Secretary of Education Jacob Oliva (right) talks Thursday with Northwest Technical Institute staff while looking at new electric cars used as teaching tools at the school in Springdale. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/Spencer Tirey)