TCC’s Skilled Trades Academy to host open house on Saturday, April 27

Imagine training for a new career and being hired in just six weeks.

Tour Tidewater Community College’s Skilled Trades Academy on Saturday, April 27, for a firsthand look at available programs and specialized opportunities for in-demand construction and maritime trades that can lead to immediate employment.

TCC’s new Skilled Trades Academy at 3303 Airline Blvd., will host its inaugural open house and career fair from 9 a.m. to noon.

Meet our highly trained and qualified faculty, learn more about program and career options and talk with potential employers throughout that morning. Hampton Roads industry professionals will also have the opportunity to network with other business owners and apply for jobs.

The Skilled Trades Academy opened last December, coinciding with a critical workforce shortage in Hampton Roads, which anticipates 68 percent more job openings in skilled trades over the next five years than workers trained to fill them. Nationwide, 31 million skilled trade jobs will be vacated by baby boomers by 2020.

TCC offers a wide range of high-demand skilled trades training in marine coating, pipefitting, pipe laying, welding, framing, electrical, HVAC, roofing and sheet metal.

In some cases, participants can launch a new career with just six weeks of training.

“We can take people with zero background in skilled trades, put them through a three-week, pre-apprenticeship program and have them employed at a major shipyard making $18 an hour directly after,” President Gregory T. DeCinque said.

Thanks to funding through the FastForward Grant, many of the programs are available at little or no tuition cost. FastForward grants offset tuition costs so eligible students can earn an industry credential at one-third of the cost of tuition. In many cases, the student pays nothing.

“Many programs in these high-demand fields like welding, machine tool and HVAC are eligible for FastForward grant funding,” said Corey McCray, vice president for Workforce Solutions and interim executive vice president for Academic and Student Affairs. “That covers the vast majority of your tuition costs, so students would only have to pay about a third of the cost of their education.”

Reservations are recommended, but not required. RSVP at the Skilled Trades Academy open house page.

For more information, email workforce@tcc.edu or call 757-822-1234. For information on FastForward funding, contact career coach Alejandra Diaz-Rangel at adiazrangel@tcc.edu.