September 2017 Vol. 72 No. 9
Newsline
Felling Trailers Goes To School On Welding
As an extension of its employee program and state-of-the-art Weld Training Center, in Sauk Centre, MN, Felling Trailers now offers a structured welding curriculum for local high school students.
“Manufacturing skills are vital to our success, and it is our desire to ensure Sauk Centre public schools continue to offer quality manufacturing education. We enjoy giving the industrial tech students tours of our facility each year, and we wanted to do more. We wanted to see what we could do to help students see and experience the opportunities in their backyard,” said Brenda Jennissen, CEO of Felling Trailers.
The 80-hour Careers in the Classroom course “is designed to give a real-world look at the manufacturing industry in central Minnesota, as well as what it takes to perform at a high level in the industry,” said Ben Myhre, Felling’s welding trainer.
In creating the program, Myhre partnered with a Dakota County Technical College welding instructor. The result was “a curriculum that was driven towards processes and operations within Felling Trailers,” he added.
Also key to the curriculum is hands-on training, with 75 percent of the course taking place at the facility’s lab, which houses six welding booths and an instructional booth.
Students pass the course when destructive testing conducted on their welds proves they meet high standards. “The best part of my job is when people lift their hood smiling, look at me and say ‘this is the one Ben.’”
Felling Trailers is a family-owned and -operated, full-line trailer manufacturer located in central Minnesota. felling.com
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