From May 1st through the 26th the Steel Yard (https://thesteelyard.org/) will be hosting its 150-hour Weld to Work job training program. Weld to Work is the Steel Yard’s unique answer to a shortage of affordable and accessible vocational training and Rhode Island manufacturers’ hiring needs. It pays participants to learn to weld and fabricate by working on real contracts of artistic functional pieces, such as ornate fences, bike racks and trashcans. Participants either receive 30-hours or 150-hours of intensive training in which they learn to safely use all the tools common to a welding shop.

While the technical skills they learn in the program are welding and metal fabricating based (skills learned are MIG welding, plasma cutting, oxyacetylene torch bending and cutting, chop saw, horizontal band saw, angle grinding/finishing, measuring length and angles, etc.), byproducts of the artistic curriculum inherently teach participants how to work independently and as part of a team, how to work safely in an industrial environment, how to communicate effectively, how to problem solve, how to show up on time, etc.

To host a tour of your facility for program participants or to visit the Steel Yard and meet participants please contact Margo Karloff-Hunger, Workforce Coordinator at the Steel Yard at 401-273-7101 or email: margo@thesteelyard.org.