Gurrado said the SCILL Center is proud to have just become a training provider for the advanced adult welding class, which means that WorkOne can now pay for qualified individuals to take the course. He said this is important, because he feels WorkOne is not taken advantage of the way it should be as they seek to fund the efforts of area residents to become more qualified for fulfilling employment.
“Go to WorkOne!” Gurrado emphasized. “In fact, it’s almost as if when people call us, we say, ‘Do you want to pay for this yourself?’ Well, we prefer not to – we just let WorkOne handle all the applications because they’ve got two or three programs of dollars available that they know much better than we do, so we just shuffle people through them at the beginning of the application process,” Gurrado said.
He said there is funding available for a variety of classes, not just welding. However, Gurrado urges prospective vocational students to allow themselves extra time when going through WorkOne, as it is a longer process than simply paying for it out-of-pocket.
“The thing that people have to cognizant of is WorkOne can’t get you through in one day. It’s a little bit of a process that’s going to take a little bit of your time. You have to pass a drug test, so we tell people ahead of time, if you can’t pass a drug test you are not going to get any WorkOne dollars,” said Gurrado.
Due to limited space and equipment, Gurrado said the SCILL Center is limiting sessions to a maximum of 12-13 students to allow them to spend as much time practicing hands-on as possible. He encourages anyone who might be interested in taking the course to give them a call and and set up a time to take a tour.
“The thing that I would advise people to do, if you’ve never seen our welding lab, call us out here at the SCILL Center. We’ll set up an appointment for you to come by and see it – even give you a chance to talk to our two instructors. But if you are interested in that class, don’t wait until the last week!” Gurrado urged. “Now, you can still get in the class, provided it’s not filled up already, because we can’t take an unlimited number.”
The third adult welding class begins May 6, so time is running out to get signed up. Call the Knox WorkOne at (574) 772-6882 or your local branch, or you can call the SCILL Center at (574) 772-8001.
