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This content was published: May 8, 2017. Phone numbers, email addresses, and other information may have changed.

Partnership with Vigor Industrial on Swan Island can get fiery and that’s how PCC likes it

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Student Doug French (left) gets a lesson from an instructor at the Swan Island welding lab.

Student Doug French (left) gets a lesson from an instructor at the Swan Island welding lab.

Portland Community College’s partnership with Vigor Industrial down on Swan Island can get a bit fiery.

Above was a typical day during a lab for the Maritime Welding Career Pathway Program, which is a 30-credit stackable certificate that gets students trained to become proficient welders. It has 20 students and takes two terms to complete between spring and summer. Once graduated, students can move on to PCC’s welding associate degree or find work with Vigor or other manufacturing companies on the island.

And thanks to funding by Worksystems, qualified students through Career Pathways get their tuition, books, tools and equipment paid for.

About James Hill

James G. Hill, an award-winning journalist and public relations writer, is the Director of Public Relations at Portland Community College. A graduate of Portland State University, James has worked as a section editor for the Newberg Graphic... more »