Energy industry training fills a local need

With incredibly strong demand for a skilled, trained workforce with the large energy industry in western North Dakota, the ability to provide training locally is crucial to meeting that demand.

At Williston State College, they have fully thrown themselves into making the college the place to turn to for training the energy industry workforce. Through its Train ND and continuing education programs, the college has been rapidly expanding the range of programs offered.

Deanette Piesik, executive director of Train ND and continuing education at WSC, said the programs they are currently offering are more varied than ever before and are seeing very strong enrollment so far this year.

"I like what I see so far this year. I think we'll continue to see the numbers increase," said Piesik.

One reason for the high attendance is, according to Piesik, due to oil and gas companies having their employees get their training in at the end of the year.

"We were starting out with high numbers at the beginning of the year. We only expect them to rise straight through to next June," said Piesik.

Piesik said there are several reasons for the continuing upswing in enrollment. Along with the possibility of more hiring going on in the area and more work in the oil fields next year, there is the new Petroleum Safety and Technology Center which opened last June.

"There's a larger variety of classes and with the high attendance despite the downturn earlier this year, it does show that the companies like the services we provide," said Piesik.

Some of the more basic and introductory oil and gas industry training courses include safety training and a 10 hour OSHA training class for new hires or as a refresher course.

There are also New Hire Training courses of either 24 hours or 40 hours. The 40 hour course is a pre-requisite for floorhand training for well servicing.

Piesik said there also are courses for basic first aid and CPR, defensive driving, HAZMAT, and confined space training.

"Safety is the foundation," said Piesik.

She said having these programs established and getting them taught regularly is something they've worked to achieve.

"The quality has remained high. For example, the 10 hour OSHA course is each Wednesday from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. That works really well for everyone's schedule when there's a set time to schedule around for people," said Piesik.

A major step the college is pursuing through the Petroleum Center is to now add more in-depth courses and not just entry level courses.

"Our goal is to offer more technically advanced courses. To be able to offer them here would be be much more efficient than sending people out of state for training and an asset to our program," said Piesik.

Among these new programs are the new well-control school and commercial driver's license program.

The well-control school course is a five-day course, three of which are spent in the classroom and the others conducting simulator exercises.

The commercial driver's license program takes three weeks and consists of three days of learning regulations, five days of learning backing skills and four to five days of going over Department of Transportation regulations.

"We're about people understanding what they're learning and being able to get jobs with the skills they've learned," said Piesik.

Other new courses include aerial lift training and floorhand training over at the Petroleum Center.

A project Piesik is working on that she considers extremely important to the curriculum is a lease-operator program.

She said such a program, like the others they now provide, is difficult to get organized and started. But once the program is launched, it becomes much easier to keep running and improve.

"We know what we want to provide, but how can we provide it is the problem so far. We need an expert; a full-time instructor," said Piesik.

She said that will be a project she will be diving into over the next few months to flush out and get set up.

Overall, Piesik said the feedback from students, employers and faculty has been positive.

She said a variety of people, from workers, employers and office workers affiliated with companies, and even lease owners have been coming in to learn basic skills.

The Train ND and Continuing Education program is located on the campus of Williston State College, 1410 University Ave., inside the Crighton Building. For more information, call 1 (866) 938-6963.

The Petroleum Safety and Technology Center is located at 421 22nd Ave. East. For more information, call (701) 572-2834.