Wharton County Junior College Carpentry Instructor Bruce Holley displays some of the tools students will use in the General Carpentry Level I program. WCJC will launch construction trades training this spring at the Bay City campus.
BAY CITY, TEXAS – Wharton County Junior College will launch construction trades training this spring at the Bay City Campus. The first program offered will prepare students for employment in the fast-growing construction trade of carpentry. An initial program – General Carpentry Level I – begins April 23.
“We want to recognize and thank Senator Joan Huffman and members of the 88th Legislature for additional funding to create a construction trades training center in Matagorda County at the Bay City campus,” said WCJC President Betty McCrohan.
An initial 10,000 square feet of the Bay City campus is currently under renovation to accommodate the construction trades training initiative, with plans to expand to 20,000 square feet as more courses are added. The overall project is valued at roughly $2 million.
The first program offered through the school is General Carpentry Level I. It is a 20-week program comprised of four individual classes: Introduction to Carpentry, OSHA, Basic Framing and Construction Materials. Classes are offered from 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
Students will receive a certificate of completion for each course they complete. If they complete all four, they qualify to take the National Center for Construction Education & Research (NCCER) examination to earn their NCCER national certification.
Registration for the carpentry courses can occur at any time up to three days before the classes begin. Carpentry program classes begin on April 23 and end on Sept. 12. Enrollment is limited.
The instructor for the carpentry program is Bruce Holley, a University of Houston graduate with 50 years of knowledge in the construction trades. Holley began his career as a carpenter apprentice and eventually worked his way up to owning his own construction company.
WCJC’s Dean of Workforce Danny Bacot says the construction trades are a fast growing industry, with the state of Texas possessing a higher rate of construction than the rest of the nation. Median pay for carpenters is $51,390 annually, according to the 2022 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Outlook Handbook.
For more information, visit the Career and Technical Training webpage
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