Coastal Bend College, partnered with Valero Three Rivers Refinery, was recently awarded a Texas Workforce Commission Skills Development Fund grant for $479,000. The grant will be used for industrial emergency response training for new and incumbent Valero employees. Onsite training in Three Rivers will be managed by the college.
“Industrial emergency response training make the refinery safer, which makes Three Rivers and Highway 281 safer,” said Glynis Holm Strause, CBC Continuing Education Director. “Employees will be able to respond to personnel, chemical and fire emergencies as well as spills of all types.”
Universal Fire & Safety, Inc. of Corpus Christi will offer 17 classes, as part of the grant, to Valero’s 297 employees. Those registered for the first series of classes hold 15 different job titles ranging from office assistant to engineer, according to Strause.
The purpose of the TWC Skills Development Fund grant is to make a positive impact on the growth and stability of a local business with the creation of new jobs, an increase in wages, and an upgrade in employees’ skills. Upon completion of the industrial emergency response training, Valero employees in Three Rivers employees will have the knowledge, skills and abilities to provide industrial rescue services; to become industrial fire brigade members; to become hazardous materials responders; and to manage onsite emergencies.
Once the current training project is completed, Coastal Bend College will retain the equipment needed to offer community- and small business-based industrial emergency response training for those in the oil industry. This training will be available through CBC Continuing Education Customized Contract Training. For more information on professional development and training, contact Coastal Bend College Continuing Education at (361) 362-2633 or http://www.coastalbend.edu.
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