One might not think they're creating much when welding virtually - but what is actually being created is a workforce with skills.
Two VRTEX 360 virtual welding machines are now in place in a classroom at the new Workforce Development training center, in the back rooms of the Callaway Chamber of Commerce. On Tuesday, classes for the new welding teachers were underway by Karissa Culp, a technical sales rep from Lincoln Electric from the St. Louis area.
Anyone interested in signing up for these free-of-charge classes, offered by the Central Workforce Development program, can get a preview at a ribbon cutting at 2:30 p.m. Monday. They can also sign up for the classes next door at the Missouri Job Center, 512 Market St., Fulton.
Chamber's Executive Director, Tamara Tateosian said, classes should start the second week of December. Once those are completed, people will be shifted into paid apprenticeships at area businesses.
"This is a project that we've been working on for over a year," Tateosian said.
Culp knows her way around these two machines.
"This is close to my heart," she said.
All the sales people at her firm are engineers.
"I am a chemical engineer, and after I graduated from Rolla (Missouri University of Science and Technology), I spent six months with the VRTEX team."
One benefit to the virtual welders, she said, is the lack of need for materials.
"The idea of using the VRTEX is to make it as realistic as possible," she said.
Everyone is welcome to come to the new center's ribbon cutting and learn more about what is being offered.