Abbott gets look at OC welding program

Gov. Greg Abbott got a snapshot of the workforce development opportunities Odessa College has to offer during a visit Thursday.

Abbott toured the welding lab at Sedate Hall and took part in a roundtable with students, local legislators, educators, Ray Martinez, OC President Gregory Williams, President and CEO of the Texas Association of Community Colleges and business leaders. The roundtable was open to the media at the conclusion of the discussion. Abbott took questions afterwards.

Marco Solis, who is taking welding at OCTECHS early college high school, has an internship with Down Hole Drilling.

“My OC experience has been amazing,” Solis said.

He praised the welding program, all his instructors and Down Hole Drilling executives for what he’s learned and his internship.

“Because of this internship, I’m getting more experience in the oilfield and I can put my skills to the test. … All the classes they’ve helped me out there in the field and I feel I did learn a lot,” Solis said.

Abbott said he wanted to congratulate Solis and the other students he got to meet at OC Thursday.

OC President Gregory Williams talks to Gov. Greg Abbott before a workforce event Thursday at the college. The event was held at Sedate Hall so Abbott could get a look at the welding area. (Ruth Campbell | Odessa American)

“It’s really inspiring to see some of the students here who are still in high school, others who are in the official program at Odessa College who really are proud about working their way towards a good paying job,” Abbott said. “Let me say broadly, it’s great to be back in Odessa but really an honor to get to be here at Odessa College to learn more about what they are doing about one of the most important issues that we’re dealing with in the state of Texas and that is to develop a high-quality workforce. I really liked the words the president Williams articulated about what their vision is. Their vision is for this college to be number one. There’s a saying that you live up to your expectations. And if your expectation is to be average, you live up to that. If your expectation is to be number one, you will work to live up to that. By my observation of what I have seen today, you can tell that Odessa College is living up to his, to its expectation to be number one,” Abbott said.

Williams also said that OC wanted to be “that experiment.” “… I would rephrase that. That may be what you wanted to be. But you started out being that experiment and I think you are now that role model for other colleges, whether it be in Texas or outside of Texas. What Odessa College is doing is exactly what the state of Texas is focused on,” he added.

Abbott noted that Rep. Brooks Landgraf, R-Odessa, and Sen. Kevin Sparks, R-Midland, who were in attendance are leaders in the workforce area.

“We will not conclude the session without doing even more to develop workforce here in the great state of Texas. There’s a very simple reason why. Workforce development is one of the most important needs we have in the state because the state is growing so prolifically through our economy. We have probably the fastest growing economy in America. The Texas economy now is a $2 trillion a year economy. That makes us the ninth largest economy in the entire world. Texas now has more Fortune 500 company headquarters in our state than any other state in the United States of America. In this last year, we added far more new jobs than any other state in the United States. We will remain number one so long as we continue to develop the workforce that our employers need. Odessa College, as well as other community colleges … (and) other workforce programs, many of which are represented here today … They are providing the training and education that is needed to prepare” students for good paying jobs, Abbott said.

The students are learning the skills while they are still in high school. He noted that Ariel Aguilar Cerda, an auto/diesel graduate working at Premier Truck Group, a Penske Company Odessa, told Abbott that he’s happy to be able to pursue what he wanted.

“Think about the profoundness of what he was saying. There are a lot of people who go through the education process and they have to learn whatever the college is teaching or whatever the high school is teaching and they may or may not like what they’re doing; they may not see the practical application of what they’re doing. So Ariel got to do what he wanted to do. He’s earning a good living, doing what he enjoys,” Abbott said.

From the employer side, they need students who graduate with skills that can be directly applied to high-demand job areas.

Abbott said he calls Texas the land of opportunity.

“The only way that truly is the land of opportunity is if everybody has opportunity,” Abbott said.

He said some choose welding as the pathway of opportunity and others find a different course.

Abbott met a woman who was going through an apprentice training program at S&B Engineers and Constructors outside Houston.

Four years before, she had been homeless. She went through the apprenticeship program, got training and went from being homeless to a homeowner.

Abbott said he asked her how much she was making and when she told me, “I said so four years ago, you were homeless, and now you’re making more than the governor of Texas. It makes me proud to see Texans succeed because of platforms that are offered up by colleges like Odessa College,” he said.

Asked about what vouchers would do to a program like the one with OCTECHS and OC, Abbott said education savings accounts would allow a student or the parents of a student to craft the education pathway that’s best for that student.

“We need to understand a reality of life. When it comes to education, like everything else, one size does not fit all. There are students here at Odessa College that needed a size different than what some other students might need. We need to provide a platform for all of those students, making sure that we have an education pathway that’s unique for each child in the state,” Abbott said.

Naqvi said in the short term it doesn’t look like the demand for welders will slow down.

“Last semester, and this semester, we served over 1,000 students just for welding program. We still cannot keep up with the demand …,” Naqvi said.

“… More than 95% of our students, they get jobs right after … finishing their degree. Even though they don’t finish their degree,” he said.

Even if they haven’t finished their degree, they still get jobs.

“I have my high school students, they are in internship program(s). They’re earning $20 an hour at 18 years old, plus they’re taking education as well,” Naqvi said.

Stacey Brown, president of Odessa Regional Medical Center, asked about addressing the nursing shortage.

“Obviously one of the things that weighs heavy on our mind is the nurse shortage. We’ve had it for decades and it’s only getting worse. We have an incredible nurse training program here at Odessa College; top notch. We have a new Health Science Center being built here. But one of the limiting factors over the years has been faculty, so would the state be willing to fund faculty positions for some of these critical programs that we all need for healthcare,” she said.

Abbott said the good thing is that all the leaders at the Capitol are aware of the issue.

“We’re looking at programs such as incentives, to incentivize people to be faculty. We have incentives like that that we use for residents and medical school. And so it may just be applying that type of program to those who serve as educators in the nursing field. We know exactly what you’re talking about. One thing hindering our ability to train nurses is an inadequate supply of nursing educators. We can’t have more nurses without more nursing educators,” Abbott said.

Brown said they turn students away.

“It’s devastating for that to happen, so we appreciate your support,” she said.

Abbott noted that she has Landgraf and Sparks there who will carry that message to Austin.