Belmont College is offering free training starting September 24 for those interested in natural gas and pipeline work.
Belmont College, St. Clairsville, OH, is offering free training this month for those interested in natural gas and pipeline field skills training.
Ed Mowrer, operations manager of the Energy Institute and program chairman of engineering with Belmont College, said the program will teach a basic understanding of natural gas, the utility and pipeline industry, and different equipment, procedures and operations.
“It’s a four-week program. The next one starts September 24. It’s free, paid for by a grant,” he said. “It was originally made for displaced coal workers. It’s open to anybody that’s unemployed. We teach them interviewing skills, resume building skills and a lot of skills to work on pipelines.”
The focus is work on pipelines for distribution companies, not employment at oil well sites.
“This is for people with no experience. This gives an unemployed person kind of a leg up into a company, because this gives them skills,” Mowrer said. “It’s taught by several gentlemen that retired from working for the gas companies.
“They learn how to locate underground pipes. They learn how to work safely around construction equipment,” he said. “They learn some firefighting, some first aid — all the things that a distribution gas company would want to have their employees go through when they hire them.”
The September 24 class will have room for 15 students, and nine slots are still available.
Apply online at www.gastechnology.org/from-black-to-blue or call 740-699-3860.
