A new $300,000 state-of-the-art welding lab from Southwest Colorado Community College will soon arrive at the largest copper mine in the Four Corners.

At a press conference Monday, Nov. 18, Bob Frayser, general manager of Lisbon Valley Mining Co. in Moab, said his business is highly anticipating the use of the new mobile welding lab. The lab will be delivered in January to enable mining employees to take part in additional technical training for five days, he said.

“These laboratories are well decked,” Frayser said. “They are very nice, quality classrooms.”

Approximately three dozen attended the public debut of SWCC’s mobile mechanical labs on Monday. The investment into the traveling classrooms will allow SWCC to address middle skill jobs in the oil, gas and mining industry across the region, said SWCC executive dean Norm Jones.

“It is our goal to transform the lives of our students, and partner with our community businesses to move economic development further,” he said.

The mobile labs resulted from a 2005 welding, electrical and mechanical training pilot program. After receiving a $2.2 million grant in 2011, the on-site program expanded to provide three similar state-of-the-art mobile learning labs for the SWCC campus.

“Each lab contains everything needed to teach or train workers,” said Kathy Cox program coordinator at Pueblo Community College, home to the pilot program. “They are 100 percent self-contained classrooms. They can be up and running on site in about an hour.”

Funding for the grant came from a federal Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training initiative. The grant is intended to facilitate partnerships between energy-related businesses and community colleges.

Aimed to enhance the skills of unemployed and underemployed workers in the oil, gas and mining industry, the greatest asset of the classrooms is that they are mobile, Frayser said. He added it would be extremely difficult to have his employees travel all the way to Cortez for training.

“Our biggest challenge in mining is finding skilled labor,” he said. “These labs provide basic job skills and more advanced training as well.”

Managing the largest copper mine in the Four Corners, Frayser said it’s a dangerous business, and the mobile labs will help ensure his employees are both skilled and safe.

“These systems have a safety impact on my business,” Frayser said. “When people don’t know what they are doing, then they can get hurt.”

tbaker@cortezjournal.com