The Structal Bridges Welder-Fitter Skills Through Apprenticeship Retraining (STAR) Program Overview

THE STRUCTAL WELDER-FITTER STAR PROGRAM JOB FAIR HAS REACHED CAPACITY AT THIS TIME. IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN THE NEXT EVENT, PLEASE FILL OUT THE APPLICANT INTEREST FORM BELOW AND YOU WILL BE CONTACTED WHEN IT IS SCHEDULED. THANK YOU.

River Valley Community College
1 College Drive
Claremont, NH 03743

Thank you for your interest in the Structal Bridges Welder-Fitter Skills Through Apprenticeship Retraining (STAR) Program.  The program will include the recruitment of students, education delivery, and apprenticeship. The sponsoring employer Structal Bridges, a division of CANAM Steel Corporation (hereafter referred to as Structal Bridges), is located in Claremont, New Hampshire, and will commit to employing 40 welders and fitters over a 12-month period. Structal Bridges specializes in the design, manufacture and erection of steel bridges. Its customers include general contractors in the civil engineering sector, provincial and state departments of transportation, forestry businesses and railway companies. Structal Bridges depends on the competence, flexibility and initiative of its employees as well as on the continuous improvement of its resources, techniques, products and services. For more information about Structal Bridges, please visit www.structalbridges.ws.

Program participants will be hired at the beginning of the eight-week education program and earn $12.18/hour throughout the eight weeks of training. All successful graduates will earn $14.21/hour with benefits (after 90 days from date of hire), plus earn a $1/hr shift differential. All positions will be 3rd shift, which is a four-day work week: Monday - Thursday, 8:00PM – 6:30AM.

Over the course of their apprenticeship, participants will be eligible for performance-based pay increases leading to the potential of earning up to $17.26/hour plus $1/hr shift differential upon the completion of the one-year apprenticeship. The apprenticeship will be administered by RVCC and Structal Bridges. Upon successful completion of the entire program, participants will have earned a total 28 college credits that can be applied towards an Associates Degree at RVCC, and a U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL) Certificate of Apprenticeship as a Welder-Fitter.

The STAR program begins with an eight-week, forty hours per week, total immersion education program delivered by River Valley Community College (RVCC).  In addition to occupational skills training, soft skills and work readiness components will be woven into the curriculum and will be included as part of the training. Successful completion of the eight week course work will result in earning a proposed Certificate in Welding Technology from RVCC and 28 credits towards an Associates Degree.  Participants also agree to participate in a one-year US Department of Labor (USDOL) apprenticeship program resulting in a USDOL Certificate of Completion of Apprenticeship as a Welder or Fitter. Due to the apprenticeship requirement participants must be employees of employers willing to sponsor their attendance in the STAR coursework and the follow-on USDOL apprenticeship portion.

There will be 40 total workers trained, which will directly lead to a guaranteed job for each successful graduate. The STAR model of recruitment will be used (e.g., marketing, orientation session, aptitude assessments, interviews, and selection). We will partner with NH DRED, the NH Works offices, and the Vermont DOL Career Resource Centers, and other agencies as necessary, to reach out to underemployed and unemployed workers who could potentially fill any new positions for the sponsoring employer, Structal Bridges.

For Additional Information Please Contact:

James E. Britton
Director Continuing Education & Business Training
River Valley Community College
1 College Drive Claremont, NH
1-800-837-0658 ext. 346
jbritton@ccsnh.edu.
www.rivervalley.edu