Thursday, October 22, 2020
WECA has been successfully co-located with Associated General Contractors San Diego (AGCSD) at their Riverside Training Facility for the past decade, and the partnership has proven beneficial to our members, apprentices, and students alike. When AGC approached WECA’s Board of Directors with a proposal that WECA move to share their facility space in San Diego as well (their newly-built headquarters in San Diego opens this year), the win-win was evident.
Terry Seabury, CEO of WECA, explains “We’ve been outgrowing our previous San Diego training facility at 9320 Hazard Way, which we established back in 2002, due to the significantly increased number of Apprentices, Electrician Trainees and Journeyperson continuing education students taking classes from us in San Diego in the intervening years. When AGC San Diego leadership invited us to consider sharing space in either their new location, or their existing Ferris Square location, we were excited to explore our options. We ultimately chose a large portion of the Ferris Square location as the best suited for our San Diego training facility expansion. Our Board of Directors and Apprenticeship and Training Trustees were happy to expand our co-location agreements with such a great organization—especially one like AGCSD which shares our commitment and passion for providing member services that help our contractor members to be successful in their businesses, as well as providing to them the most well-trained industry employees in the state.”
“Our partnership with WECA will enhance training for craft workers in each Apprenticeship program, and expand other benefits for members of either Association. Working together, AGC and WECA have the unique opportunity to have 10 different craft trades train in close coordination— a scenario much closer to real-world job conditions than stand-alone training. WECAs track record in apprenticeship curriculum development and AGCs long history of continuing education complement one another to provide exceptional training at all stages of construction careers,” says Eddie Sprecco, CEO of AGC San Diego.
Bob Bartlett, WECA Director of Membership , adds that “WECA’s decision to co-locate with AGC San Diego is a strategic plus. With the new facility and lab space nearly doubling, WECA members can rest assured that the apprentices they enroll in the program will be excited to attend classes in a state-of-the-art training center. AGCSD has fun events and we are looking forward to co-sponsoring membership meetings which will give WECA’s electrical contractor members the opportunity to rub elbows with the Generals. Quality space…Quality education…and Quality benefits…all coupled with a Quality Partnership can only lead to increased successes and opportunities for everyone involved.”
From the training and curriculum perspective, the opportunities seem boundless. Don Black, Director of Apprenticeship Training, IT and Facilities, explains that “The move to Ferris Square really gives our instructors an opportunity to leverage the additional hands-on lab space in support of our curriculum and student success. The instructors are excited to have two large open lab spaces where they can spread out the lab activities to enhance the student experience. Additionally, the classroom spaces are comfortable and an excellent environment for learning. Our new location will serve WECA and our students for many years to come.” Tom Thompson, WECA Curriculum Development Manager, adds that “Our Low Voltage program in San Diego will benefit quickly from the expanded space, as the curriculum team is excited to further develop the hands-on labs on our current low voltage systems competencies, and also build new competencies around the addition of “data rooms” (not only in San Diego, but also in Rancho Cordova) that will very closely simulate what students will be installing on a real job site!” WECA’s GetWired! Electrician Trainee Certificate Program is likewise excited over the expanded lab space. Michelle Gilkey, Director of Marketing, Learning and Product for WECA, explains that “We are continuously finding ways to accommodate the ever-growing number of trainees we serve with our GetWired! hybrid online program, and this additional space will allow us to run more concurrent Saturday labs than ever before in San Diego.”
You can now find WECA’s San Diego training facility at 6212 Ferris Square, San Diego, CA 92121. When in-person classes resume, apprentices, trainees, and journeyperson continuing education students will all be able to enjoy learning in these new and expanded facilities.
WECA is grateful for this opportunity to train alongside AGC in San Diego, and looks forward to many years of working side-by-side to train the future workforce. |
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