Dallas College certification program connects workers to skills, jobs in high demand
DALLAS (CBSNewsTexas.com) – At a Dallas College lab in South Dallas, Jose Canales took a fast-track, 12-week course that changed his life. "It's pretty intense, and your brain can get a little fried, but you just attack it, take it day by day, task by task."
When he and his classmates are done, they'll have earned five certifications in mechatronics where they will master mechanical drives, fluid power, programmable logic controllers, electrical motors controls, and robotics.
Businesses in North Texas need people like Canales and his classmates who have these skills.
Canales said, "My company sent me out here so I could get more familiar with components and how they work and how to troubleshoot."
The certifications make him more valuable to his company, he said, because he can fix the mechanical and electrical equipment when it breaks down. "I have the skills to find out why or where the problem is."
Bafford Howard, professor and coordinator of Manufacturing and Mechatronics at the School of MIT at Dallas College, oversees the certification program. "These students are very committed to this program. They are in demand."
It's not just companies that are placing their employees in this Dallas College program to learn, but companies who are looking to recruit.
In November, Texas Instruments brought in lunch and hoped to attract potential employees.
Walmart has also recruited students in the program and Rehrig Pacific hired three of the students in this class.
Dallas College didn't initially offer this course to the general public.
Back in May 2020, after the COVID-19 pandemic began, Howard said Amazon called the college and requested they provide these same certifications to 24 of their employees who work in the enormous warehouses. "So, we're one of I think five campuses, five colleges teaching Amazon employees."
Howard said Dallas College thought if they did this for Amazon, why not offer the same certifications for people who live in the community? "That's exactly what they did."
He said the college also added a robotics lab at its facility in Fair Park.
The robots there are used in manufacturing and for stacking products for shipping in warehouses similar to Amazon's.
They're working with people, not replacing them.
Canales said, "We could put all of these robots out there, but somebody has to give them a command, somebody has to tell them when to start, when to stop, when to pick-up, when to drop. So, moving parts, wear and tear is eventually going to happen. That's where we come in."
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said the State of Texas added more than 650,000 jobs last year, outpacing every other state.
During a recent presentation, Pia Orrenius, a vice president and senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, said while the state has done a good job attracting companies and workers to Texas, that rapid pace isn't going to last forever.
She said the state needs to develop home grown talent.
Governor Greg Abbott has also spoken about the need to expand workforce programs across Texas.
The Dallas College program is also about giving people like Desiree Carter second chances.
Carter said, "If you were to have asked me three years ago, could I do any of this, I probably would have told you no."
She said she spent time in prison.
After she was released, she was homeless, but managed to hear about this Dallas College program and enrolled in the first class.
She's one of only four women to receive these certifications in mechatronics so far.
Carter said, "For me, I've always been hands-on. I like fixing things, but I've never been given the opportunity to be in lab and actually touch stuff."
The classes came so easily to Carter that she helped her fellow students, and Howard said he took notice. "We felt like if we're going to ask our partners, our corporate partners to hire some of the second chance people, then we need to do the same thing. So, we hired her, she's working with us. She's a lab assistant. She's here every day, she helps the students. She's been a great part of our program."
Carter said this program is a steppingstone to becoming a robotics engineer. "I've never been to a college. I always wanted to go to a college. I've always wanted to stay in school. I couldn't. So, the opportunity presented itself and that fact that it was a door that was open, and it didn't shut on me, that's what became a game-changer."
Dallas College believes this program can be a game-changer for all of these students, and the college is expanding this certification program to its facility in Garland.
Howard said the program comes at no cost to these students.
It's paid for by grants from a program at the college and from PepsiCo Foundation.
The cost of each grant is about $3,000.
