New Equipment for Plumbing Programs

Andrea Byerly
Monday, February 26, 2024 12:00 AM
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CLEVELAND, TN – Cleveland State Community College recently partnered with City Fields and Wholesale Supply Group Inc. to purchase $36,000 of plumbing equipment that will be used for training in the new Workforce Plumbing Bootcamp and the academic Principles in Plumbing course.

City Fields donated $25,000 and Cleveland State provided $11,000 from the Governor’s Investment in Vocational Education 2 grant (GIVE2) for the project. Wholesale Supply worked with RIDGID tools to secure the best possible price for the equipment, valued at $80,000.

“Our big thing is we want to see the next generation of plumbers and next generation of electricians come up, and there is no better way to do that than partnering locally with people like Cleveland State, City Fields and also the PIE (Partners in Industry and Education) Center,” said Josh Rogers, Marketing and Public Relations Director of Wholesale Supply. “For us, any time that we are able to give back to our community and also be able to help grow our industry is always a great thing.”

The Workforce Plumbing Bootcamp is a 60-hour program offered Mondays - Fridays, April 22 - May 10, 11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. at the PIE Center in Cleveland. Students will earn three industry recognized certifications from the National Coalition of Certification Centers (NC3): Manual and Hand-Held Power Threading, Power Machine Threading, and Pressing for HVAC and Plumbing.

Cleveland State’s Workforce Development Department partnered with City Fields and the American Job Center on the bootcamp. Funding is available for qualified individuals. 

Jason Taylor, CSCC Advanced Technologies instructor and GIVE2 grant coordinator was instrumental in the purchase of this equipment. Taylor completed additional training to become a certified NC3 RIDGID plumbing instructor. He has 28 students in the Principles of Plumbing course and will teach the Workforce Plumbing Bootcamp.

“Cleveland State's Workforce Development Department is fortunate to work with amazing community partners like City Fields and Wholesale Supply Group,” said Heather Brown, Director of Workforce Development. “We would not be able to offer our plumbing students these valuable certifications without this equipment. Like-minded community partners coming together to share the cost is how we continue to better our students and serve the workforce development needs of our service area.”

For more information about plumbing bootcamps, contact Director of Workforce Development, Heather Brown, hbrown@clevelandstatecc.edu or (423) 614-8793. 

Photo Cutline: Pictured left to right: Jason Taylor, CSCC Advanced Technologies Instructor; Josh Rogers, Marketing and Public Relations Director of Wholesale Supply; Brian Stewart, City Fields Director of Workforce Development; Heather Brown, CSCC Workforce Development Director; Dr. John Squires, CSCC Vice-President of Economic and Community Development.