Category Archives: Waco

TSTC to Train Workers at Two Waco Companies with State Grant

(WACO) – Leaders from Texas State Technical College and the Texas Workforce Commission announced Tuesday afternoon the awarding of a $333,554 Skills Development Fund grant for the college to train 175 production, installation, mechanical and maintenance workers at two Waco companies, Englander dZignPak and Capstone Mechanical.

Englander dZignPak on Texas Central Parkway celebrates 50 years in Waco in April and specializes in signage, retail displays and packaging. Capstone Mechanical on Imperial Drive specializes in commercial contracting, engineering and service for plumbing and heating, ventilation and air conditioning throughout Central Texas.

“Thank you for being part of a prosperous and evolving community,” said Texas Workforce Commissioner Representing the Public Andres Alcantar, who presented the check. “We need to work together to find solutions to succeed. Thank you for doing business in Texas.”

TSTC Provost Adam Hutchison said the grant represents the technical college’s mission — to grow the Texas workforce and connect local businesses to higher education. TSTC will conduct the training with the two companies.

Training grants enable workers to use their paychecks to make a difference in their communities, Hutchison said.

“This is real dollars being put back into our community,” he said.

Hal Whitaker, Englander dZignPak’s president and chief executive officer, said the grant ties in with the company’s strategic goals of improving employee safety and health.

Rick Tullis, president of Capstone Mechanical, leads more than 200 employees, some of whom are TSTC graduates. He said the company’s focus has always been to build and invest in people’s skills.

TWC’s Skills Development Fund was created in 1996 and has assisted more than 4,200 Texas employers to train more than 340,000 workers. In fiscal year 2016, more than $510,000 was used to fund 43 grants to serve 98 businesses.

TSTC Receives Money For New HVAC Scholarship

(RED OAK) – The Texas Air Conditioning Contractors Association has given financial support to students for Texas State Technical College in North Texas’ Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning Technology program.

The Austin-based nonprofit trade association has given $10,000 to the HVAC program for scholarships and plans to contribute more money later this year. The money creates the TACCA Presidential Scholarship that will go to TSTC in North Texas HVAC students.

“Our organization has been a supporter of TSTC for years, and we have had numerous members of our board of directors that have sat on the HVAC programs at TSTC all across Texas,” said Todd McAlister, the association’s executive director.

Stephen Pape, executive director of student learning at TSTC, is an association board member.

“Air conditioning is a good industry for students who want to work with their hands and have a good mechanical aptitude,” Pape said. “You are not stuck behind a desk and you get outside. People are appreciative of your work. You get immediate feedback on the quality of your work.”

TSTC’s HVAC program began in fall 2014 and graduated its first students in 2016. There are more than 30 students in the program for the spring semester. The program teaches students to work in residential and commercial environments.

“What are we are trying to do is place students with contractors and get them some hands-on experience, and that means the upper-level students are taking more evening classes than they are during the day so they can work,” Pape said.

Texas had more than 21,000 heating, air conditioning and refrigeration mechanics and installers with an annual mean wage of $42,830 in May 2015, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The Woodlands-Houston-Sugar Land area had about 5,400 workers and the Dallas-Plano-Irving area had more than 3,800 employees in the field in May 2015, making them the areas with the largest concentration of HVAC workers in Texas, according to the labor statistics bureau.

The trade association was founded in 1969 and is made up of more than 500 members of the state’s HVAC industry. The group’s focus is on HVAC advocacy and education.

“Air conditioning is one of the most important items you need, whether it is residential or commercial,” McAlister said. “Unfortunately, our industry is one that has an aging workforce. The average age of an HVAC technician is 55. So, we need the younger generation to come into the industry, and obviously things like scholarships and other opportunities that help fund somebody is something we think is vital. It is important to have programs like TSTC as just one of the many avenues to get the younger people in our industry.”

TSTC Uses Funding, Collaboration to Help Small Businesses

(WACO) – Texas State Technical College is using partnerships and available funding to help small businesses with workforce training and development.

“Small businesses are the backbone of the U.S. economy,” said Isidro Ramos, a business relationship manager for Workforce Training at TSTC in Harlingen.

The Texas Workforce Commission’s Skills for Small Business program is a way the technical college has helped improve workers’ skills. The program enables businesses with less than 100 employees to work with the commission, who in turn makes funding available for colleges to provide training.

TSTC currently has $395,000 in Skills for Small Business grants statewide.

“With SSB’s, TSTC can serve small businesses on a course-by-course, employee-by-employee basis,” said Carliss Hyde, vice president for sponsored programs at TSTC in Waco. “The funds enable the workforce team to find creative ways to collaborate with business owners needing specific training for their employees.”

TSTC has used TWC money to host recent trainings on Occupational Safety and Health Administration guidelines at the Williamson County campus in Hutto and on CPR, first aid and automated external defibrillator usage in Waco.

Employees at Coppera Plumbing and Commercial Services in Taylor have attended the continuing education classes. Coppera has less than 20 employees and a service area extending from San Antonio to Waco to College Station.

“The reason we took the classes is because owners and general contractors are looking for companies that have good safety records,” said Sam Dowdy, Coppera’s general manager.

Dowdy said he liked the convenience of TSTC having a presence in Williamson County.

“We will definitely continue looking at graduates from TSTC,” Dowdy said. “They are looking for careers in the trades and we are looking for people that want careers in the trades.”

Outreach is taking place in other ways, too.

TSTC in Harlingen is working with Workforce Solutions Cameron, the U.S. Small Business Administration and The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Small Business Development Center on the Small Business Initiative. The centerpiece of the effort will be a needs-assessment survey being sent before the end of January to several of Cameron County’s small business owners to gather input on workforce needs.

“Hopefully we will get a good response, and in the end, we want to have a training calendar that the small businesses can access,” said Ramos.

TSTC in Waco Student Restaurant to Open Feb. 1

(WACO) – Texas State Technical College’s Culinary Arts program opens its student-operated restaurant for the spring semester on Wednesday, Feb. 1.

The restaurant is at the Greta W. Watson Culinary Arts Center on Campus Drive. The restaurant is open to the public, who this semester will dine on student-planned menus with themes such as Texan, Eastern European, Central Mexican and Cajun.

Meals are served from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Wednesdays and Fridays from Feb. 1 to April 21. The serving days and themes are:

Feb. 1 and Feb. 3: Texan

Feb. 8 and Feb. 10: Caribbean

Feb. 15 and Feb. 17: Eastern European

Feb. 22 and Feb. 24: Southern Italian

March 1 and March 3: Central Mexican

March 8 and March 10: Restaurant closed for Spring Break

March 15 and March 17: Floridian

March 22 and March 24: Cajun/Creole

March 29 and March 31: Californian

April 5 and April 7: Scandinavian

April 12 and April 14: Brazilian

April 19 and April 21: Live Action Buffet

Weekly menus will be posted online, on the TSTC in Waco Facebook page and sent on TSTC’s Twitter account.

For menus and other information, go to tstc.edu/about/culinarydiningwaco.

To make reservations call 254-867-4868.

TSTC Biomedical Equipment Technology Programs Teach Students to Defend Security

(WACO) – The United States healthcare system has been targeted this year as having a high vulnerability for cyberattacks because of advanced network connectivity for equipment and data, according to a nationwide healthcare technology organization.

Texas State Technical College’s Biomedical Equipment Technology programs in Harlingen, Marshall and Waco train students to fight off hackers trying to get into critical medical systems.

“We teach them the basics of how to learn what the hackers know,” said Garrett Seeley, associate professor in the Biomedical Equipment Technology program at TSTC in Waco. “We show students how hackers communicate with each other and let people know what they know.”

The Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation is a nonprofit organization that released this month its AAMI Pulse: Cybersecurity survey, which included responses from 118 nationwide information technology and healthcare technology management workers. The survey found that about 75 percent of participants thought their medical facilities could react quickly to a cyberattack, while 9 percent of people thought cyber security was considered a low priority in their workplaces.

“The best way to predict is to communicate,” Seeley said. “Hospitals are trying to shoulder the burden.”

Malware is considered one of the main tools to infiltrate hospital security systems, according to the association and the Institute for Critical Infrastructure Technology. Malware can find its way into network-connected and configured medical devices, smartphones, tablets, implanted patient devices and records systems.

Seeley said it is not specific equipment that people try to disrupt – it is the technology system that ties everything together. He said the goal for hackers is to bring networks down and cause disruptions.

“People are remarkable in that they can find loopholes that you don’t know exist,” he said.

The Food and Drug Administration has also found in recent years that the unauthorized sharing of passwords enables people to undertake cyberattacks.

The need for medical equipment repairers to keep technological systems secure in Texas is expected to grow through 2024 from at least 2,600 workers to a projected 3,300 employees, according to projectionscentral.com, a clearinghouse of short-term and long-term state labor market predictions.

Baylor Scott & White Health in Dallas has hired several of TSTC’s Biomedical Equipment Technology graduates.

“The TSTC program is probably the strongest, in my opinion, in the state of Texas,” said Carol L. Wyatt, director of Healthcare Technology Management for BSW’s Northern Region in McKinney. “The graduates we have hired at BSW, in my experience, are ready to hit the floor running. That is exactly what we need – a good foundation. When they come in, we ‘Baylorize’ them and teach them how to use our database and how to be good BSW employees.”

Cyber security plays a critical role in medical equipment security at the sprawling healthcare system spread throughout North and Central Texas. Staff members also consider who emails are being sent and forwarded to as part of security.

“They (biomedical equipment technology workers) have to make sure all patient information is secure and the equipment is secure, whether with a password, a firewall or physical cables,” Wyatt said. “It’s part of our responsibility in the management of maintenance of medical equipment that it is taken care of.”

There are eight two-year programs for Biomedical Equipment Technology in Texas, according to the AAMI. TSTC offers the Associate of Applied Science degree in Biomedical Equipment Technology in Harlingen, Marshall and Waco. The Waco campus also has the Associate of Applied Science degree in Medical Imaging Systems Technology.

“A two-year technical degree in Biomedical Equipment Technology with added Information Technology certifications may provide graduates with an earning potential equal to or greater than that of many four-year degrees at much less cost and time spent in the classroom,” said Nicholas Cram, associate professor and lead instructor in the Biomedical Equipment Technology and Process Operations Technology programs at TSTC in Marshall. “The workforce landscape has radically changed in healthcare technology over the last 10 years and will continue to change in the future.”

One of the courses that TSTC’s Biomedical Equipment Technology majors take is Medical Equipment Networks.

“As a biomedical equipment technician, you are responsible for maintaining, calibrating and troubleshooting problems related to all of the medical devices in the hospital,” said Cram. “With expanded and immersive capabilities of healthcare networks, it is common to have medical devices providing physicians with ‘real-time’ physiological data. Biomeds need to understand this aspect of the data flow if problems occur. It is an extension of the medical device troubleshooting process.”

TSTC Courses for Red Oak Students to be Featured This Week at Meetings

(RED OAK) – Red Oak High School students and parents can learn about dual enrollment offerings, including those from Texas State Technical College in North Texas, this week at two special information meetings.

The Red Oak Independent School District will host Dual Credit/Advanced Placement Parents Night meetings at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 24 and Thursday, Jan. 26 at the high school at 220 Texas Highway 342 in Red Oak.

“In Red Oak, we are committed to preparing students for the world they will enter after graduation,” said Brenda Flowers, Red Oak’s deputy superintendent and chief academic officer. “Dual credit and college programs can prepare the students to go straight into a college or go into a career.”

Students who will be sophomores, juniors and seniors in the 2017-18 academic year can take dual credit classes in Automotive Maintenance and Light Repair and Visual Communications Technology – Design Specialization Technology. Students can also take classes in programs that TSTC in North Texas offers: Computer Aided Drafting and Design Technology; Computer Networking and Systems Administration; Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning Technology and Welding Technology.

“Some of these programs will be taught by credentialed instructors at the high school and for some programs, the students will come to TSTC for on-site instruction,” said Kori Bowen, interim director of dual enrollment at TSTC.

Flowers said flexible scheduling between the high school and TSTC enables students to walk to and from the campuses to take classes.

“It is a very unique partnership because very few school districts in the state have a full college campus adjacent,” Flowers said.

Career and technical courses are a school-wide effort. The high school has about 1,800 students in grades 9 to 12.

“As part of our graduation plan, everyone takes a career and technical class,” Flowers said.

Red Oak High School students will begin advising and registering for next year’s classes in February.

For more information on TSTC, go to tstc.edu.

For more information on the parents meeting, go to rohs.redoakisd.org.

TSTC Students Volunteer for Hutto has Heart

(HUTTO) – Students from Texas State Technical College’s Industrial Electrical Systems program volunteered Thursday to help run electrical wire in a Hutto resident’s home.

The job, part of a Hutto has Heart project, will help a local family make their home more accessible for their daughter, who has used a wheelchair since an accident last year.

Hutto has Heart provides assistance to families through requests for help, including car repairs, assistance with medical and utility bills, gas money, food, clothing and more.

TSTC recruiter and Hutto City Councilman Michael Smith said TSTC was excited to lend a hand for the project.

“Hutto has Heart’s program coordinator reached out to us with the general need, and instructor Mike Jenkins, (TSTC Provost) Edgar Padilla and I sat down to make sure that we had the manpower and that our students would be properly prepared in time,” Smith said. “Everything lined up, so we jumped at the opportunity.”

Smith said the occasion presented a way not only to make Hutto aware of what TSTC students are doing, but also to help out in the community.

“It is great to give back, “Smith said. “We don’t just have a building here in Hutto; we’re part of the community and a responsible part of that is giving back and helping out when we can.”

Industrial Electrical Systems instructor Mike Jenkins said the experience would benefit the students by learning on the job.

“They’re getting hands-on experience,” Jenkins said. “It’s not what you get in the classroom under clean conditions. You actually see what it’s like to come out and work around people’s personal belongings.”

Eight students helped to install the lighting and electrical power for the handicapped-accessible bathroom. Second-semester student Eddie Santos said he was glad to help.

“I wanted to help out other people,” Santos said. “Our teacher told us about the situation, and us going out there to help was a good thing.”

Santos said the experience helped him learn new job skills.

“Since the Sheetrock was already put in, we got to learn some of the remodeling aspects of the job,” he said. “We’ve done wiring before, but it was before any of that was done, so we learned how to go over those obstacles.”

Padilla said the school couldn’t be more proud to partner with Hutto has Heart.

“We care about our community and are thankful for the opportunity to give back,” Padilla said. “We want to offer a huge thank-you to our friends at The Home Depot in Hutto and the efforts of our students and staff.”

TSTC will begin registering for the summer semester on April 3. The Industrial Electrical Systems certificate is a two-semester program that teaches students residential and commercial wiring.

For more information on TSTC’s Industrial Electrical Systems program, or to apply, visit tstc.edu.

TSTC Challenger Learning Center Hosts First Students

(WACO) – Texas State Technical College’s Challenger Learning Center is taking the first groups of students on their own space adventures this month.

Last week, more than 20 students from Eagle Christian Academy (ECA) in Waco and 16 juniors and seniors from Bruceville-Eddy High School visited the center to participate in the simulated space mission, “Rendezvous with a Comet.”

The learning center on Airline Drive was formally opened in September. The Challenger Learning Center is only one of three in Texas and is affiliated with the not-for-profit Challenger Center for Space Science Education in Washington, D.C. The center was established to honor the seven astronauts who died Jan. 28, 1986, when a booster engine failed on the Challenger space shuttle launching from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Glenna Kendall, a Bruceville-Eddy biology and scientific research and design teacher, said the excursion marked the first science field trip she has been part of in six years teaching at the high school. She prepared her students by having them watch movie accounts about the Challenger space shuttle and conduct research on comets.

“Science can be fun and engaging,” Kendall said.

At the learning center which promotes STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics studies), students were assigned roles in the laboratory and Mission Control and learned about star fields, sampling and analysis. Students also put communication and critical thinking skills to good use.

Bruceville-Eddy senior Megan Attaway, 18, said the lessons made her see the stress and pressure that people in aerospace deal with daily.

“It is kind of interesting but I never thought about a career in space,” she said.

Eagle Christian Academy students also visited the center’s planetarium.

“I liked the planetarium because we got to look at different star combinations and comets,” said Matthew Mathis, 14, an eighth grade student at ECA.

Josh Bridges, the academy’s science teacher, said the trip was made possible with donations from parents. He prepared students for the visit by leading discussions on the solar system and space exploration.

“Most of the kids are curious yet excited,” Bridges said. “There may be some future teachers and engineers.”

The Midway Independent School District, Abilene Independent School District and Brownwood Independent School District are scheduled to send groups to the learning center in the next few weeks.

The learning center’s programs are tied to the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills tests administered by the Texas Education Agency. The state guidelines indicate students should progress through school knowing about planets, the role of gravity, asteroids, comets, the history and future of space exploration, temperature and other concepts.

The Cooper Foundation and the Rapoport Foundation, both in Waco, made substantial financial gifts to create the local learning center.

For more information on the Challenger Learning Center or schedule a tour, go to tstc.edu/challenger.

TSTC Building Construction Technology Programs Aim to Fill Growing Industry Demands

(WACO) – Qualified workers for construction trades are expected to be in demand in 2017 amid a projected increase in building projects along with a wave of personnel retirements, according to a nationwide construction survey released earlier this month. Texas State Technical College is preparing to fill that demand.

More than 60 percent of Texas construction companies are expected to increase their payroll this year, according to the Associated General Contractors of America’s survey “Expecting a Post-Election Bump: The 2017 Construction Industry Hiring and Business Outlook.” More than 130 construction firms responded to the organization’s Texas survey.

“We are very worried about where the next generation of subcontractors are going to come from,” said Scott Bland, president of Jim Bland Construction in McGregor and board president of the Heart of Texas Builders Association in Waco.

More than 30 percent of construction businesses indicated they were having a challenging time finding salaried and craft workers. Some companies have resorted to providing bonuses, incentives, increased pay and better benefits to attract workers, according to the survey.

Texas State Technical College’s campuses in Harlingen and Waco have Building Construction Technology programs which have experienced enrollment boosts.

The Harlingen campus offers a three-semester Certificate in Building Construction focusing on residential and light commercial construction. There is also a five-semester Associate of Applied Science degree in Building Construction Technology concentrating in heavy commercial construction and construction project management.

“The Building Construction Program numbers have doubled compared to this time last year, telling me that the need for a trained construction workforce is growing at a faster pace than the past,” said Rolando Cuellar, lead instructor of TSTC in Harlingen’s Building Construction Technology program. “The program plans to continue recruiting and working with elementary, middle schools, high school students, continuing education students, local cities and nonprofit organizations to help get the word out that the construction industry wants you.”

The Waco campus offers an Associate of Applied Science degree in Building Construction Technology – Project Management Inspection Specialization and a Certificate in Building Construction – Craftsman. Students can also work toward certifications in Energy Efficiency Specialist, Plumbing and Pipefitting Technology and Electrical Construction Technology and an Associate of Applied Science degree in Solar Energy Technology.

“In six semesters you can get an associate degree and two certificates,” said Earl Leonard, lead instructor in TSTC in Waco’s Building Construction Technology program. “We get calls for tradesmen, plumbers, carpenters and solar installers. There are also management requirements. We have some people call for estimators.”

There are efforts underway to create a pathway for potential students to follow.

Bland said the addition of a construction science division at the Waco Independent School District’s Greater Waco Advanced Manufacturing Academy in the 2017-18 academic year should help build a crop of high school students who have desires to study at TSTC and eventually enter the construction industry.

“The main thing is to get the information out to the kids that there are wonderful careers in our industry and that it is dying for applicants,” Bland said. “You can make good money and raise a family and have a good career. It’s a message we haven’t been getting across the last 20 years. I think that is why we have a manpower deficit right now.”

Bland said he wants potential employees to be goal-oriented and have good time-management skills.

“We massively encourage girls to get into this field,” Bland said. “There is no reason why we need a male-dominated industry. These kids – 22-, 23-years-old – have certifications and making money and don’t have student loan debt. They are the ones buying cars and these are our consumers. It’s a win for everybody.”

Perry A. Vaughn, executive director of the Associated General Contractors Rio Grande Chapter in Harlingen, said work is occurring with TSTC and Rio Grande Valley school districts, including the Harlingen Independent School District, to revamp construction trades programs.

New workers are expected to be needed in Texas for hospital, public building, retail, warehouse, lodging and school construction – the areas projected to have the most building projects this year, according to the survey.

“The strengthening of the peso would help us in the Valley, but we anticipate a strong year in 2017 regardless,” Vaughn said.

TSTC Welding Grad Lands Job with Growing Company

(HUTTO) – When the oil industry crashed in 2015, Cedar Park resident Stephen Price found himself unemployed and looking for a new career.

Price’s brother had enrolled at Texas State Technical College in Williamson County and told him about it. Price wanted something in which he could use his mechanical military background, so he followed suit after learning about TSTC’s welding program.

Price said he learned a lot at TSTC.

“When I started, I knew almost nothing about welding,” Price said. “I think I picked up pretty quick. I’m a quick study. There were some things that took more time to get proficient at.”

The Air Force veteran graduated in December 2016 and found employment at 101 Mobility in Cedar Park. Price wanted to stay close to home after spending six years traveling the world with the Air Force. He served three years at Dyess Air Force Base in Abilene, three in Aviano, Italy, and some time in Iraq and Qatar.

“Those years in Italy were the best years of my life,” Price said. “I traveled all over Europe. I was an hour north of Venice. In three hours I could be in Poland or Germany.”

Now, he is working as the fifth member in a growing company, and he was excited to get in early.

“101 Mobility installs handicap accessibility items like stair lifts, elevators and ramps,” Price said. “I assemble and install them to the customer’s specifications. It’s what I want to do, the pay is good and I’m getting in on the ground floor.”

101 Mobility began in 2008 in Wilmington, North Carolina. The company opened in Cedar Park in 2012, and current owner and president Kellye Jennings purchased the location in 2015. At the time, the company had two employees, making her the third. She’s since almost doubled the head count.

“I’m really trying to develop more resources and offer more products,” Jennings said. “I’ve invested in additional employees with the expectation that we’ll start realizing the additional revenue. I feel that it’s more important to have the people in place first and then experience the growth, instead of experiencing the growth and scrambling to find people. With growth comes opportunity, and I think that’s what drew in Stephen.”

Jennings was initially drawn to Price’s resume because of his military experience.

“I think it’s important to hire someone with a military background because of the connection with our customers,” Jennings said. “The discipline and the skills you develop in the military really lend themselves to the business. The fact that he recently graduated was the icing on the cake. With him focusing on his next objective, which is developing his skill, shows focus and initiative, and those are two qualities that I really feel are important.”

Spring classes at TSTC in Williamson County begin Tuesday, Jan. 17. TSTC begins registering for the summer semester on April 3.

For more information on TSTC’s welding program, visit tstc.edu.

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