CEO teaching the next generation life skills

At a time when unemployment runs rampant and opportunity seems scarce, a new Houma business is looking to help people find a career in welding.

The Sparx Welding Technology Institute on Equity Drive has courses that can put a student into a career in as little as seven weeks, says the company’s President and Chief Operating Officer Phillip Strother.

“Everybody wants their sons and daughters to go to college, and you can’t blame them. But not everybody is college material. Welding is a good way to make a living. It’s a highly skilled and high paying job,” said Strother. “A young person can start a welding career, just build on that and end up anywhere he wants.”

Sparx is a fledgling operation, having just opened its doors in January. The company hopes to build up its clientele by catering to employers looking to expand the skills of their workforce as well as newcomers looking to start a career.

“The company itself will participate in the much needed welding training field to meet the needs to fill the major welder shortage that is expected to intensify as baby boomers age and the need for skilled laborers grows,” said Sparx CEO Derrick Prentice. “It is estimated that more than half of the industry’s highly trained workforce is nearing retirement, creating a potential shortage of more than 200,000 welders in 2010.”

Strother himself is a sturdy Cajun who’s built his own life and much of the shop’s equipment with welding. He started his career earlier than most in his father’s fabrication shop, and never looked back. Now he’s looking to help those who don’t have fathers to teach them the trade and how to make a living binding metal with fire and sparks.

“It’s kind of like a carpenter. If he sees a desk and he wants a desk like that, but can’t afford to buy one, he gets him some wood and builds him one, and it’s probably a better desk than he could’ve bought. I’m the same way. I know how to work metal. If I see something out of metal I think is really cool, when I get the spare time, I build one,” Strother said.

Although he clearly loves welding, Strother doesn’t try to sugarcoat some of the working conditions inherent to the trade.

“Everywhere you work it’s either going to be hot, too cold, too wet or too dry,” he said. “There’s no perfect conditions; it’s just like living.”

Despite its shortcomings, welding can offer an honest, decent living for young people, said Strother.

“The younger generation doesn’t realize it’s a cool job. Once they see the massive size of the ships, there’s so much technology in those boats, the frame structure and the welding, and how cool is it if your standing on the beach with your girlfriend, and here comes a coast guard cutter zinging by and you can say, ‘I worked on that.'”

Sparx offers courses ranging from the basics, like structural welding, to advanced, state-of-the-art techniques. It’s also the only American Welders’ Society accredited testing facility in the state, according to Strother. Students who complete the courses and pass all their tests will also have their first year of dues for the American Welders Society paid for by Sparx.

For Strother, the start-up welding academy has been six years in the making, and while Sparx is ultimately a business, it’s more about passing on his passion than making a buck.

“I’m doing this more out of passion than to make money, and to meet the need,” said Strother. “It’s something I enjoy, it’s a good career start. It’s where I started my career.”

Sparx Welding Technology Institute, 280A Equity Dr., Houma (985) 655-7779 Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m, night classes also available www.sparxwelding.net