(MARSHALL) – Texas State Technical College recently received a valuable in-kind donation from a Longview business.

In June the Airgas Store donated welding wire valued at more than $47,000. The store, one of more than 60 operated by Airgas in Texas, specializes in welding equipment and rentals, specialty gases and fire safety equipment.

The wiring will be used primarily by welding students and is expected to last two years, said Danny Nixon, an instructor in TSTC’s Computer Aided Manufacturing program in Marshall.

“A lot of times when you get deep into the fiscal year, money gets tight,” Nixon said. “This is a huge gift.”

This was the first time Airgas had made a gift to TSTC, said Jeffrey White, an Airgas account manager in Longview.

“This gives the students the opportunity to learn different welding processes they may come across once they graduate,” White said.

The gifting process started with White and an Airgas welding process specialist visiting TSTC in the winter to assess the Welding Technology program because of a request to buy new welding machines.

“I remember thinking how great it was that these students were getting a hands-on approach to welding and learning skills that would help them out immediately after graduation,” White said. “We ended by finding the right machines for them and started discussing other projects that we might be able to help them with.”

White said the business had excess welding wiring and he felt it could be put to good to use by TSTC’s welding students.

“Once approved, I got with Danny Nixon and gave him the list of different types of wire we had and asked if they could use it,” White said. “Turns out they could use everything on the list, so we loaded up our delivery truck and delivered it.”

Airgas is based in Radnor, Pennsylvania.

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