Westmoreland County Community College receives more than $78,000 in funding for welding training program

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) and the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) recently awarded Westmoreland County Community College (WCCC) in Youngwood $78,320 to support its training program.

The grant is one of five awards totaling $1 million.

WCCC will use the funding to add new welding certifications and expand training. This will include the aviation, automotive, and petrochemical industries, meet employer needs in high-temperature power plants, and joining advanced alloys using robotics.

WCCC partners with robotics firms as a member of Carnegie Mellon University’s Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing Institute. Over the course of the community college’s project period, at least 68 students and 21 workers/trainees will enhance their current employment or obtain new positions.

The other education institutions receiving grants are Belmont College in St. Clairsville, Ohio; Calhoun Community College in Decatur, Ala.; Robert C. Byrd Institute at Marshall University in Huntington, W.Va.; and Southeast Community and Technical College in Cumberland, Ky.

NETL develops and commercializes advanced technologies that provide clean, environmentally friendly energy.

The ARC is an economic development agency of the federal government, and 13 state governments focused on the Appalachian Region. The commission works to strengthen economic growth in Appalachia, a 420-county area.