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Georgia Trade School

770 590 WELD


www.georgiatradeschool.com

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November Student of the Month

Congratulations to Daniel Keever!


The instruction staff at Georgia Trade School is so proud of Daniel Keever, our November Student of the Month! Daniel displayed an exceptional work ethic throughout his training, and always conducted himself professionally and courteously, showing the utmost respect to his instructors and peers. He was a pleasure to teach and we sincerely wish him the best!
  Congratulations, Daniel!!

More National Press
 

GTS was excited to appear once again in Welding Journal, the official publication of the American Welding Society.  With a distribution large enough (69,000) to fill the new Mercedes Benz Stadium, this feature highlights the incredible work our staff and students completed at the North Cobb American Legion Post 304!  It is always very important for us to get our message across to the leaders in the welding and metalworking industry.
 

http://www.georgiatradeschool.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/AWS-American-Legion-Story.pdf

Welcome Stephen Leone

 
One of the things we prides ourselves on is a culture where graduates come back often so they can mentor current students. Stephen Leone (pictured above) embodies that as he often came to the school after work to assist in the lab. Stephen has now joined us as a full time Instructor and we are very excited to have him leading our night class! Stephen’s complete bio is linked below.

http://www.georgiatradeschool.com/bio/


 


New Employment
 

Congratulations to the following graduates who will be excelling in a wide range of industries including shipbuilding, fabrication, and manufacturing.

If you enjoy the NFL, thank our graduates because they are building the Atlanta Falcons new home. If you like having the greatest Navy in the history of the world, thank our graduates because they build it. And if you love Chik Fil A (and who doesn’t?) thank our graduates because they build the menu boards for the drive thru’s.

When we say welding is everywhere, we aren’t kidding!

 
Michael Millea - Steel LLC
Manuel Espinoza - Oh & Payne
Tanner Robertson - Awnings Above
Mark Smith - American Boa
Brett Leebrick - ProLift

Michael Craddock - UniStructures
Nick Smith - UniStructures

 



Welders versus Philosophers
 
Our take on the debate, from Georgia Trade School Founder Ryan Blythe
 

Kudos to Florida Senator and Republican President Candidate Marco Rubio for addressing one of the biggest problems our nation faces - the skills gap and specifically the lack of welders. Predictably the usual suspects jumped all over the Senator citing the misleading example from the Bureau of Labor Statistics that compared the salary of a welder (37,000) to a philosophy teacher (63,000). I operate one of the top welding schools in the United States and I have not met a welder in my career. I do however have many Pipe Welders, Shipbuilders, Fabricators, Certified Welding Inspectors and Tig artisans among my graduates and colleagues. Our new graduates that work as Mig Welders for Caterpillar begin at 53,000 per year with five weeks vacation. Did I mention that many of those graduates are still teenagers!
 
Wealth is generated in this industry through overtime and travel, much like a professional athlete a strong welder can expect to earn per diems and lodging allowances. It is very rare to work in a shop where you only get 40 hours per week - that might account for the welders cited that are earning less than 40,000 per year. Shipbuilders start at 20 dollars per hour right out of school with Cadillac insurance benefits and discounts on everything from auto loans to rent because of the size of their employers. And with some yards working on ten military ships there’s plenty of hours available.  Welding Inspectors are probably the most comparable job title to a Philosophy Professor in that CWI’s usually come from an engineering background and/or have a college degree. The national average for that position is 61,000 and again that does not account for overtime. Another fallacy coming from media sources with preconceived notions about career pathways is that all liberal arts majors are going to become College Professors. Becoming a College Professor requires six years of additional study beyond a bachelors degree. With the average cost of a private liberal arts university soaring to 31,000 per year you could buy a home in East Cobb with the kind of student debt that process will endure.  I have watched a lot of young people take undergraduate degrees with no labor market value only to wind up in service sector jobs. Many of our best welders including some of our top Pipe Welding graduates that earn six figures came to us via university and were employed as baristas after college.
 
I am proud to serve on our state’s Go Build Advisory Council advocating for the skilled trades to have the same seat at the table as other postsecondary options. Georgia manufacturers report 9,000 current job openings or nearly one for every single company as there are 9,325 manufacturers in the Peach State.  Nationally 185,000 skilled trade jobs open every year and we have only one replacement worker for every four that are retiring. 
 
My conclusion is that Senator Rubio’s debate remarks is the shot across the bow that will hopefully lead to a revolution in postsecondary education. Imagine what our paltry 2 percent growth rate would increase to if we had the workforce for the jobs of the 21st American Century. 

 


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