(MARSHALL) – Texas State Technical College in Marshall recently received a $192,179 Skills Development Fund grant from the Texas Workforce Commission.

The grant will pay for training more than 260 employees at The Crosby Group in Longview.

Twenty-nine tool and die employees will upgrade their skills at TSTC taking Advanced Gas Tungsten Welding, Basic Machining, Blueprint Reading and Sketching, Computer Numerical Controlled Machining and Math and Measurement for Machining.

More than 230 workers will take the 12-hour safety course Manufacturing Process and Safety taught by company staff at the Fisher Road facility in Longview.

The company specializing in material handling applications, lifting and rigging products announced in April a $45 million expansion and relocation to Longview Business Park. The company is based in Tulsa, Okla. and also has locations in Canada, Europe and China.

“I think the stance is TSTC is training a reliable workforce,” said Mike Heidger, human resources manager at the Longview facility. “It’s tough to find good talent today. TSTC is a big benefit for the region especially with employers needing desperately today a trained workforce.”

Bryan Maertins, director of workforce training and continuing education at TSTC in Marshall, could not be happier about the grant’s awarding.

“One of the things we are receiving is equipment,” Maertins said. More than $14,000 of the grant will be used for new welding machines and machining equipment to support the Crosby workers and for future Marshall welding and machining students to use for hands-on training.

The grant funding period is from Aug. 31, 2015 to Aug. 31, 2016. Since the mid-1990s, the Skills Development Fund has helped more than 4,000 Texas employers and more than 215,000 workers learn new work skills, according to the state workforce commission. The grant program has also helped create more than 101,000 new jobs.

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(MARSHALL) – American Electric Power Co. (AEP) donated a 2002 International 4900 Digger truck to Texas State Technical College. The truck, estimated to be worth about $30,000, will be used in the Electrical Utility Construction & Maintenance (Lineman) and Diesel Departments at the Marshall campus.

The lineman and diesel departments will use the truck for training students. “We’ll be able to train students to troubleshoot and diagnose engine, brake, suspension, drivetrain and electrical applications on another live vehicle,” said Diesel Instructor Arlis Elkins.

Students that attended the donation event were excited to get to use the truck. “We’ll be able to learn more things. Instead of just seeing it in a book, we’ll be able to see it in real life before we’re out in the working environment,” said Keith Pistolis, TSTC student.

AEP donated the truck in a brief ceremony at 2 p.m. on the Marshall campus. “From AEP’s perspective, y’all are training our workforce for us, which is very important to us. It’s great to have people, these young guys who are going to replace the boomer generation like me who are not that far from retiring, so it’s very important for us selfishly to have this facility. And secondly, we support economic development throughout our service territory and we know TSTC is a big piece of the engine for economic development in this region,” said Keith Honey, External Affairs Manager at AEP.

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(MARSHALL) – Texas State Technical College’s Associate Vice President of Student Learning, Randy Haley, will serve on a panel at the Longview Chamber of Commerce’s Cyber Security Summit, Thursday, June 18. The summit will be from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Pinecrest Country Club in Longview.

Before accepting the AVP position, Haley was the Director of IT Studies at TSTC and responsible for all Information Technology programs.  He was director for two years and during that time he re-tooled TSTC’s cyber security Associates program to better meet the demands of industry. Randy actively holds his Certified Ethical Hacker, and Computer Hacking Forensic Investigator certification from EC-Council as well as CompTIA’s Security+ and Network+ certifications.

With the recent security attacks on large companies like Target, Home Depot, Apple’s cloud and even the city of Longview, security is a big issue for all.

“Everyone needs to know about Cyber Security,” Haley said. “Whether you are a fortune 500 business or a grandmother checking email on her computer, knowing about cyber security will go a long way to protect your assets and identity. Any business that has a connection to the internet should attend this conference, especially when dealing with Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and Payment Card Industry compliance.”

TSTC in Marshall offers a two-year Associate degree and level one and two certificates in Cyber Security. The program teaches basic computer security, and how to install, configure and troubleshoot network hardware, peripherals, and protocols. For more information on the Cyber Security program, call 903-923-3316 or visit http://www.tstc.edu/mar_cybersecurity.

For more information on the summit, or to register to attend, visit http://goo.gl/bPHl2W.

(Marshall) — Approximately 45 students will walk the stage Friday at Texas State Technical College’s Spring Commencement Ceremony. The ceremony, held at Wiley College’s Julius S. Scott Sr. Chapel, will begin at 6 p.m.

As part of its 50th anniversary, TSTC will give all students graduating in 2015 a commemorative Stole of Gratitude. The stole will feature the unique TSTC 50th anniversary logo, and students will be able to gift it to a special person who has helped them along their journey at TSTC.

TSTC offers specialized, hands-on instructional courses leading to Associate of Applied Science degrees and Certificates of Completion, in areas such as cyber security, diesel equipment, instrumentation, machining, professional office technology and welding.

The college is celebrating 50 years of service to the state of Texas this year.

A going away reception in President Randy Wooten’s honor was held on October 23, 2014.

Effective Sept. 2, Randy Wooten, President of TSTC Marshall will also serve TSTC as Vice Chancellor of Strategic Initiatives.

Wooten has served as president of TSTC Marshall since his appointment in May 2006. Prior to his appointment, Wooten served as vice president for student learning at TSTC Marshall.

He came to TSTC after serving as the technical services manager for the Brazos River Authority in Waco, and the assistant superintendent and vice president of administrative services for the Long Beach Community College District in Long Beach, CA.

Wooten also served more than 20 years in higher education with assignments ranging from classroom instructor to vice chancellor, with the majority of these assignments in the Air Force while stationed at Air University, Maxwell AFB, AL.

Responsibility for the day-to-day activities at the TSTC Marshall campus will go to Barton Day, who will serve as provost and the college’s executive academic officer. Day, who has a 30 year career history in the Unites States Air Force where he attained the rank Chief Master Sergeant, the top enlisted grade, joined TSTC in April 2012. He has served as the director of strategic initiatives and led the college’s education and training as vice president of student learning since January 2013.