In tough times, metalworking class has waiting list

ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. 

A well-riveted, crisply angled metal dust pan may be one of the most important projects Melvin Overton has made in awhile.

Overton, 53, of Elizabeth City, is taking a seven-week course in sheet metal repair offered by the College of The Albemarle. He, along with 10 others, are all seeking new careers in aviation.

Dust pans were their first project and involved many of the skills necessary for aircraft repair.

With the unemployment rate in double digits, COA's sheet metal course has drawn a waiting list of up to 150 people, many of them laid off and in their 40s. When this first class ends Jan. 28, another day class of 12 will start. A night class began last week.

"There is no guarantee they will get a job," said Dave

Wessel, vice president of corporate and continuing education at COA. "Our goal is to make them as competent as possible. If they are laid off, then they are doing something positive about it. A large part of what we are doing is giving them that sense of hope."

Overton was laid off three years ago from the Ford plant in Norfolk after 15 years. More recently, he was laid off from U.S. Gypsum in Norfolk.

"I heard about the course from a friend," he said.

Dan Phelps, 31, an unemployed electrician, applied for a job in his field and they told him he should also apply for a sheet metal worker job. He interviewed Friday.

Brian Jack, 45, has no work in Outer Banks construction and wants to try a different field, he said.

"This is a good opportunity for me," he said.

Sabrina Hayes, 24, was laid off from the Ford plant along with her husband. She was the third generation working for Ford. She tried working at a bank and doctor's office.

"I just can't stand sitting at a desk," she said.

Class instructor Don Yurko has worked in aircraft maintenance for 33 years, including a Navy career, and now works for a private contractor at the Coast Guard base.

"I know what you have to know to do this," he said. "There's a lot more involved in this than bending a piece of metal like you want it to be."

Yurko taught the basics of rivets, metals, measuring, tools and safety before assigning the class to make aluminum dust pans.

The rented shop on Enterprise Drive near the Coast Guard base is stocked with new equipment for shaping, cutting and drilling sheet metal, thanks to a $250,000 grant from the Golden Leaf Foundation and $300,000 from federal stimulus funds. Part of the money also funded short courses in other unrelated fields.

With sheet metal equipment purchased, the state may fund the course next year as part of COA's regular curriculum, Wessel said.

Jobs in the aviation industry are not as plentiful as in the early 1990s, but they have held steady at about 650,000 jobs nationwide for the past three years, according to statistics from the Aerospace Industries Association.

Jobs in aircraft parts and repair have grown to 102,600 in 2009 from 83,500 in 2004.

In Elizabeth City, a new aviation industrial park promises good jobs.

DRS Technologies, an aviation contractor, hired 100 people last year. Plans include building a new hangar in the park and hiring another 100, said Wayne Harris, director of the Albemarle Economic Development Commission.

Within three years, COA could start an FAA-certified aviation program at a cost of about $8 million, similar to those offered at three other community colleges in the state, Wessel said. COA would run its program on one side of a new hangar at the park, while Elizabeth City State University would hold its four-year aviation program on the other side.

"We will get there eventually," Wessel said. "The sheet metal course is a start."

Jeff Hampton, (252) 338-0159, jeff.hampton@pilotonline.com