Lawmakers look to community colleges for oil boom training

Industrial workforce needs are becoming a main focus of southeast New Mexican community colleges, as a recent spike in regional extraction developments caused an influx of workers in need of training.

John Gratton, president of New Mexico State University-Carlsbad spoke before the Legislative Finance Committee during a Wednesday meeting at NMSUC that his school works closely with industry leaders to identify programs to meet a company’s specifications.

He said the school is looking to offer a 10-week safety training course for oilfield workers.

Gratton said safety is paramount to maintaining the industry’s momentum in Permian Basin, and NMSU-C is here to help.

“You’d be shocked to see some of the injuries. It’s horrible. Safety in that industry is essential,” he said. “When the industry comes to us, we say yes.”

The administration has met with oil-producing companies such as Chevron, Concho and XTO, Gratton said, to discuss a potential gas-compression program for workers in the natural gas industry.

The school is also renovating its welding area, he said, planning to provide more courses and training in that field.

“A lot of it depends on what are they asking for,” Gratton said. “We do a cost analysis and look at the long-range impact. I’ve got to look at a lot of different variables before I make that decision.”

NMSU-C also provides training for workers at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, Gratton said offering leadership courses for employees hoping to move up in the company.

The school is also looking into a “dealing with difficult employees” course, he said, which would address workforce harassment and work ethic.

“We have a fluctuating economy. The oil and gas industry booms and busts,” Gratton said “The oil and gas industry is now coming to us and saying ‘We want you to help us’ with programs.”

At New Mexico Junior College in Hobbs, President Kelvin Sharp said companies can even provide instructors or class materials for training programs offered at the school.

He said the college is developing a mock well site, to provide hands-on training for workers.

“It depends on what the request is. If we can get a short course, and the industry can provide the instructor, those are programs we can get going very quickly,” he said.

Sharp lobbied lawmakers to put more funding into workforce training, a service he said was essential to the industry that supports much of the state’s economy.

“Put more money in the workforce training,” Sharp said. “That would really help us respond to the needs of the industry.”

Chairwoman of the committee, State Rep. Patricia Lundstrom, said higher education institutions often struggle to create programs that directly correlate to industry demands.

“In these rural industries, with a volatile industry, it seems to me higher [education] is a little slower when it comes to figuring this out,” she said. “We need to look into how we can better retool the workforce training.”

Lundstrom said the schools must put more emphasis on outreach with the industry, to anticipate needs and develop programs before industry leaders make requests.

“I was a little concerned when I heard we are waiting to hear what they need,” she said. “We worry sometimes that we’re training people for jobs that won’t exist in five years. It’s something we worry about statewide.”