(WACO) – For Texas State Technical College students Joseph Hermann and Andres Zapata, Friday was a homecoming.

The Belton residents and TSTC Building Construction Technology majors visited Belton High School to take part in a simulated SkillsUSA TeamWorks build with students from their high school alma mater. The two groups will represent Texas at the 2018 National Leadership and Skills Conference in late June in Louisville, Kentucky.

“I want to see them succeed,” said Craig Sullivan, a construction trades teacher who taught Hermann and Zapata at the high school. “We want TSTC to be national champions as much as I do Belton.”

The groups worked in the shade of the high school’s career technical education building, which has a view of Tiger Field, home of the Belton Tigers. Some students watched as they walked by while changing classes.

“It is bittersweet coming back here,” said Hermann.

Students worked with building plans drawn by Michael Carrillo, a TSTC Building Construction Technology instructor, with input from Sullivan.

Carrillo said he designed the blueprints to be more difficult than what the students will encounter when they compete in Kentucky. The purpose was to develop the students’ decision-making skills and adaptability to various situations.

Randy Pittenger, president of the Belton Independent School District’s Board of Trustees, was one of the few school district leaders stopping by to see the build.

“It’s just interesting to see how they motivate each other,” he said. “SkillsUSA is a great program to prepare for job readiness.”

The TSTC group won first place at the SkillsUSA Texas Postsecondary State Leadership and Skills Conference held in early April in Waco.  Besides Hermann and Zapata, the team is made up of recent TSTC BCT graduate William Chance and electrical construction student Ricardo Delgado.

Delgado, 25, a lead electrician at Britco Structures USA in Waco, is new to SkillsUSA.

“This is the first practice, so I’m getting the feel of what will happen at nationals,” he said.

Hermann and Zapata said the team needed more practice before traveling to Kentucky.

“This has been a big wake-up call,” Zapata said. “Expectations are high. It feels good to work with this group again.”

Hermann and Zapata were on last year’s high school team that won the state and national TeamWorks titles.

The Belton group placed first at the state secondary SkillsUSA TeamWorks contest in early April in Corpus Christi. The team includes seniors Bailey Eickenloff, Antonio Hernandez, William Glaser and Lyhue Penny.

“At Belton High School, we believe SkillsUSA and TeamWorks give skills and experience to students to walk out of the classroom and go into the workforce,” said Jill Ross, principal.

For more information on SkillsUSA, go to skillsusa.org.

For more information on Texas State Technical College, go to tstc.edu.

(WACO) – There are two years that have been pivotal in Charlie Montgomery’s career.

One was 1978, the year he graduated from what was Texas State Technical Institute (now Texas State Technical College) with an Associate of Applied Science degree in Architectural Drafting and Design.

“I was able to gain knowledge to go forward in life,” said Montgomery, 60, of Lorena.

Then there was 1988. Montgomery’s brother committed suicide, and he felt the need to stop what he was doing and move as far as he could from Waco. So, he moved to Fort Worth, where he lived and worked for four years.

But Waco pulled him back.

“This was home,” he said. “It was where all my family was. I started to get my life in order again.”

He started C.O. Montgomery Construction Services LLC in Lorena in 1995 with a pickup truck, a handsaw and tools, and no employees. He learned quickly how well-developed people skills can help build a business.

“The thing that helped me the most was the Jarrell tornado,” Montgomery said. “I started to learn how to weld. I designed and sold 63 storm shelters.”

He said one of the hardest parts of having a business is the management, from taxes to insurance.

His company has 10 employees and also hires subcontractors. He wants to work with TSTC’s Building Construction Technology program to provide internships and fill needs for estimators.

“Us older guys are dying out,” Montgomery said. “In our day, we sacrificed to do what we had to do to get the job done.”

One of the jobs Montgomery’s company is doing is building Bush’s Chicken locations throughout Texas. The restaurant being built in China Spring is how Bobby Horner, a city of Waco inspection supervisor and classmate of Montgomery’s at TSTC, reconnected after years of taking different career pathways.

“It was neat to see Charlie around,” Horner said. “Charlie has done everything we have asked with the project.”

Keith Bush, founder of Bush’s Chicken, said Montgomery is his preferred builder. Bush’s Chicken uses a standard 3,000-square-foot design for all locations.

“It’s so comfortable and reassuring knowing Charlie is on your project because you don’t have to worry,” Bush said. “With other contractors, you have to worry they will do something that is not in your best interest. He does what is in the best interest in the buildings he builds and the work he does.”

Montgomery grew up in McLennan County and graduated in 1976 from Midway High School.

“I was always artistic and did a lot of drawing,” he said.

He said taking drafting classes at Midway helped prepare him for TSTC.

“The trades are completely ignored,” Montgomery said. “If the schools focused on that, it would help prepare the students.”

He was hired for a drafting job after his first semester in college and after graduation worked for Centurion Mobile Homes in Waco designing mobile homes. One project he remembered was building their own hydraulics testing mechanisms for trusses.

“I had a knack for designing things and laying things out and making it work,” he said.

Montgomery said his later work drafting and designing at Bob Hoover Construction in Waco opened his eyes to the construction side of designing. He said he valued his time observing the building process on-site at projects.

“We need drafting and construction taught together,” Montgomery said. “Each needs to know about the other.”

For more information on Texas State Technical College, go to tstc.edu.

(WACO) – Three employees at Texas State Technical College were recently honored for their work and talents.

Rudy Cervantez, statewide automotive department chair; Jimmy Holecek, a supervisor for Building Maintenance and Management; and Robert Wells, a system programmer/analyst for the Office of Information Technology, have been named Chancellor’s Excellence Award recipients.

Cervantez, 55, has worked at TSTC for 12 years. Some of his duties as a statewide department chair include scheduling classes, approving leave time, budget management and working with high schools on dual credit plans.

He said he was surprised when he was notified of the award.

“Serving as a statewide department chair for the automotive department here at TSTC is the ‘salsa on the taco,’” said Cervantez. “I never imagined to be in the position I am in now, and I really appreciate the opportunity offered to me by the college.”

Cervantez said he knew in high school he wanted to do two things: operate his own automotive repair business and teach. He ran such a business for 17 years before coming to TSTC.

“I knew I wanted to teach the profession after I had completed my first goal,” said Cervantez. “Goals completed!”

Holecek, 52, has worked for TSTC for 11 years. He supervises and makes assignments to seven people, logs their work time and processes paperwork for work orders.

“I also meet with staff on campus concerning the different projects they are requesting,” he said. “This can be anything from minor repairs to a major construction project.”

Like Cervantez, Holecek said he was astonished at receiving the honor.

“TSTC is a good place to work,” Holecek said. “The benefits are great, and for the most part it is like a working family atmosphere here at TSTC.”

Wells, 56, has worked at TSTC for 22 years and maintains Colleague, the technical college’s system for student and employee data.

“I want people to know about the very kind and over-the-top support the TSTC staff gives its students,” said Wells. “Being a graduate of TSTC, it was the stepping stone I needed to advance into the business world before I returned to work for TSTC.”

The men join 13 other TSTC employees statewide who will be honored later this month at the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development Awards dinner and celebration in Austin.

The Chancellor’s Excellence Award began in 2001 and has been given to about 300 TSTC employees statewide. Recipients are nominated by their peers for their work toward advancing the technical college’s mission.

For more information on Texas State Technical College, go to tstc.edu.

(WACO) – Leaders from Texas State Technical College, the Texas Workforce Commission and Manitou Group gathered Tuesday to commemorate a $283,116 Skills Development Fund grant aimed at improving workers’ skills at the forklift manufacturer’s Waco facility.

The grant will create or upgrade 145 new jobs and provide fabrication, maintenance and production training at the plant.

Manitou Group Plant Manager Martin Simard said he has received good feedback from his employees after some of the early trainings. He said utilizing the money is an investment in the company’s next generation of equipment and staff development.

“We need to stay open-minded in pushing boundaries,” Simard said. “We still have good ideas and things to do.”

Trainings by TSTC faculty began in March and will finish in November.

“TSTC has always leaned forward to provide an edge for companies and training,” said Andres Alcantar, chairman and commissioner representing the public for the Texas Workforce Commission.

Kris Collins, senior vice president for economic development for the Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce, said she was pleased Manitou Group was taking advantage of what TSTC and the TWC have to offer.

Bob Livingston, TSTC’s vice president of industry relations, said the grant benefits local employees who will have improved productivity and morale, and businesses that will receive dollars spent by residents. TSTC is able to fulfill its mission with job training while paying faculty additional money to teach new skills.

“If you like to hire our students, you should like us training your employees,” said Livingston.

The Skills Development Fund has been used since 1996 to localize workforce training for companies. This enables companies to work directly with local partners to develop training tailored to employees’ needs. The grant has assisted more than 4,200 employers statewide, according to the TWC.

Texas Rep. Charles “Doc” Anderson, R-Waco, said the funds signify a holistic approach in continuing to be a foundation for the Texas economy.

And, TSTC is at the forefront in hiring and placing more Texans in highly skilled jobs.

“TSTC is super important and brings focus to Waco,” Anderson said. “The TSTC experience is really amazing.”

Manitou on Imperial Drive in Waco has about 170 employees involved in the production of forklifts for a variety of industries.

For more information on Texas State Technical College, go to tstc.edu.

(WACO) – More than 380 graduates received certificates and associate degrees at Texas State Technical College’s Spring 2018 Commencement held Monday, April 30, at the Waco Convention Center.

For Daniel Follis, an instructor in the Cyber Security program, watching his students achieve their education goals does not get tiring to see. He estimated he has attended 18 TSTC commencement exercises.

“I make them a promise when they start that I will shake their hands when they walk across the stage,” Follis said.

Several of Friday’s graduates already have jobs.

Cynthia Martinez, 19, of Hutto received the Dental Assistant certificate. She is working to transition from clinical work to full-time employment at Little Hippos Pediatric Dentistry n Hutto.

“It feels good to actually have a job and have an opportunity to start in the workforce,” Martinez said. “It’s a little scary but being in clinicals got me used to it. I am more comfortable in Hutto.”

Sydney Vanwinkle, 23, of Waco was a Phi Theta Kappa graduate who received a Pharmacy Technician certificate. She will transition from clinical work at Drug Emporium on Bosque Boulevard to part-time employment as she starts an associate degree in accounting this summer at McLennan Community College.

Vanwinkle said she would miss her classmates.

Some graduates are considering job offers.

Jonah Swandt, 22, of Keller received the Associate of Applied Science degree in Robotics Technology. He had several relatives in attendance watching him walk across the stage.

Swandt said he enjoyed the hands-on learning and understanding how to make the transition from college to the workforce.

“I hope to make a decision on a job in a week or two,” he said.

After the commencement ceremony, Electrical Lineworker Technology graduate Jeff Montgomery, 24, proposed marriage to his longtime girlfriend, Leeann Roen. And, she said yes.

“It’s been five years,” he said. “We met in high school.”

Montgomery will be working for Pike Electric at Fort Hood.

Roen held back tears as she looked at her engagement ring.

“I’m overwhelmed and excited,” she said.

Earlier in the day, the Dental Assistant program held a Pinning Ceremony for graduates at the John B. Connally Technology Center.

For more information, log on to tstc.edu.