WNCC construction trades program aims to bolster small, aging workforce with new generation

Plumbing co-instructor James Gonzales (center) explains the uses of a reciprocating saw to students Layla Mendoza (left) and Nick Sisneros (right). The first eight weeks of the trades program are spent on gaining experience with tools and learning how to operate them safely.

Western Nebraska Community College has set its sights on developing the Panhandle’s construction trades workforce with programming designed to accelerate motivated students directly onto the job site.

Plumbing student Layla Mendoza (right) practices drilling through a steel plate under the supervision of co-instructor Jim Smith (left). Mendoza is interested in a construction career and is getting all the basic skills she needs at WNCC.

The construction trades program launched at the beginning of August with its first entry level plumber training. It arose to address the need for more skilled workers that was identified both by data and by the communities that WNCC serves.

“I don’t think it’s a big secret that we don’t have enough construction trades people as a society. It’s not just an issue in the Panhandle, it’s nationwide,” Doug Mader, WNCC executive director of workforce and lifelong learning , said. “We haven’t thought of these as careers where you can have a better life, a profession. They’ve been on the back burner for 30 years.”

Mader knows from personal experience just how much emphasis the education system has put on pursuing postsecondary education in the last several decades. He remembers how much pressure was put on him to attend college, even from people who were employed in the trades at the time.

“The guys were like, ‘You don’t want to do this, go to college.’ The guys I was working with, the carpenters. So now we have this problem where now we don’t have enough electricians, enough plumbers,” he said. “We’re trying to find a way to quickly turn that around.”

The program is not designed to turn out fully trained professionals. Instead, it’s designed to quickly bring someone with little to no knowledge up to speed on the basics of the trades. That includes developing a solid understanding of what a job in their chosen field looks like, imparting essential knowledge of tools and terminology and even the overlooked work of building confidence.

“If they don’t have the confidence, they don’t apply (for jobs),” Mader said. “And if they do, they get scared, and after a week, they’re gone. That’s a problem.”

The current plumbing course is acting as a pilot for the program. With classes on Tuesday and Thursday evenings and Saturdays, it is possible for students who are already employed to attend and pursue a new goal without sacrificing the financial stability of their current job.

“The goal here is to make it available for as many people as we can,” Mader said. “A lot of people want to change careers, but they can’t be unemployed. We could take one of these programs and do Monday through Friday from 8 to 5 and probably be done in 4 weeks, but how many people can be out of a job for 4 weeks?”

Plumbing co-instructor Jim Smith (right) explains the settings on a hammer drill to students Layle Mendoza (left) and Nick Sisneros (right). Smith has nearly 40 years of experience as a plumber and said he is happy to share what he has learned with a new generation of motivated students.

The plumbing course is being run by two experienced professionals, co-instructors Jim Smith and James Gonzales.

Smith has been in the plumbing field since 1984 and became a master plumber in 1993. His nearly 40 years of field experience make him an invaluable resource to students.

“I like mentoring and teaching younger people because I’ve made a bunch of mistakes,” Smith said. “My goal is to teach them the right way to do things. You’ve got to learn from your mistakes, and I enjoy it.”

Gonzales has done a wide range of work in the trades dating back to his high school years in the 1990s. His diverse experience in plumbing, construction and electrical work brings a well-rounded and holistic mindset to the class.

“I’ve been doing it for so long it comes as second nature,” he said. “It’s always been there. For me, hands-on is way better than computers.”

That desire for a hands-on career is what motivated plumbing student James Sisneros to sign up for the course. Like many others, he is currently employed but looking for something new that’s a better fit for the life he really wants.

“Right now I pretty much just sit on a computer for 8 hours a day,” Sisneros said. “Getting into the plumbing trade gets me to work with my hands, which I’ve always wanted to do. It definitely opens up new opportunities for the future.”

Sisneros had a bit of experience with construction before starting the course, but his classmate Layla Mendoza came in as a motivated newcomer. She said that she’s already learned a lot in a short amount of time.

“Lots of things have taken me by surprise. I don’t know how to work half of these things, but I’m learning and it’s fun,” Mendoza said.

Smith and Gonzales recognize how badly their field needs new blood and how advantageous the training offered at WNCC can be for the careers of their students.

“The old blood is going,” Gonzales said. “Everybody is getting to the age of retirement and nobody is coming into the field as a young person to take over for them. There’s a lot of opportunities for them right now.”

Plumbing student Nick Sisneros tries his hand at operating a reciprocating saw. Sisneros is currently employed but looking for a change. Plumbing gives him a chance to work with his hands, which is what he wants from a job.

Smith added, “They can make as good or better money through a trades program as they can going through 4 years of college, getting a ridiculous debt built up and working for 10 years to pay it off. The trades will get you right into it.”

Three other programs are in the works: entry level carpentry, electrical and HVAC. Those areas were all chosen because of the demand for professionals with those skills across the Panhandle and how many of the basic skills for those jobs overlap with each other. The knowledge gained from one of those four areas can also be applied to more specialized work like brick laying or drywall hanging.

“They can have enough skills and knowledge and confidence to get into these fields and start a new career,” Mader said. “That’s something we want to push, that these are careers and not just jobs. They’re chances to not work at a desk, to work with your hands, to be inside and outside, have variety, be creative and make a pretty good living.”

Mader said that he is interested in speaking with industry professionals who want to become instructors for WNCC’s trades programming. A minimum 4 years of documented field experience is required, but the most important attributes of a good teacher are patience and a willingness to help mold a new generation of workers.

“Ideally it’s someone who says, ‘I’m going to go help people.’ You get to change lives,” he said.

Contact Fletcher Halfaker: [email protected], 308-632-9048.

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