NWACC to take on iron workers’ program

BENTONVILLE — Northwest Arkansas Community College officials plan to take over an iron workers program they say responds to a critical need in the region’s workforce.

Wil-Shar Steel Erectors, a Rogers company, recently asked the college to take over its iron workers’ apprenticeship program, said Keith Peterson, dean of the college’s Workforce and Economic Development department.

“The program has grown beyond their capacity to administer it anymore,” Peterson said.

Wil-Shar, in addition to transferring the administrative duties to the college, also will transfer a training lab consisting of red-iron trusses that can be assembled and disassembled by students in the program.

“We’re putting the finishing touches on the training program with Wil-Shar right now,” Peterson said. “We’re all very excited about that. It’s a wonderful component to the quickly expanding building sciences program we’re putting together here.”

The lab structure is 25 feet by 40 feet. Officials plan to place the lab in what’s now an overflow parking area just south of the Shewmaker Center for Workforce and Economic Development.

The college’s Land Use and Facilities Committee approved the plan Thursday. The board will consider approving it at the board’s next meeting June 13.

Committee members asked how noise from the lab would impact surrounding buildings.

Students would be assembling the structure only a couple of times per year. In addition, that work will be done during evening hours, Peterson said.

“It won’t be intrusive in any way,” he said.

If it’s decided the location isn’t ideal, however, the lab could be moved easily.

The iron workers’ program takes three years. It will be the college’s fourth apprenticeship program. The college also has programs in electrical, plumbing and heating and air.

There is a lot of demand for iron workers in the Northwest Arkansas region and beyond, Peterson said. The college probably will inherit about 60 students from the program Wil-Shar is running now, he said.

Total enrollment in the college’s four apprenticeship programs probably will be between 220 and 250 this fall. Enrollment in the college’s current three programs has grown by 60 percent in the past two years, Peterson said.