Greenville Technical College’s Center for Welding and Automation Excellence (CWAE), located on the college’s Simpsonville campus off Georgia Road, will open this fall.
The opening coincides with the Champions for Student Success event to be held Oct. 27, the primary fundraiser for the Greenville Tech Foundation.
Once open, Once open, CWAE will serve 250 academic welding students per day and provide AWS (American Welding Society) certification testing services to approximately 200 welders annually.
Interest in the program is high, and students will benefit from the college’s strong network of partnerships with local employers, creating direct pathways to career opportunities.
CWAE positioned as a solution to the national skilled labor shortage
The center is going up in response to a national need to fill 400,000 welding positions in the U.S. in the coming years, starting with the Upstate.
With 400,000 welding job openings nationwide, CWAE will double its capacity to prepare the next generation of welders. And with the move into the new facility, CWAE will use the former space to partner with Greenville County Schools and deliver high-quality welding instruction to high school students who have been on a waiting list for career center openings, thus tripling CWAE’s welding capacity.
Welding offers a strong return on investment for students as a trade career, requiring only about two years to earn AWS certification.
A focus on innovation in technical education
The new campus will integrate automation, robotics and AI, into the welding curriculum. Students will gain hands-on experience with the latest AI-driven tools and innovations.
The program represents a level of advanced training and technology integration that is unmatched by other welding programs in the state.
Elevating student success
Today, the median wage for a beginning welder is $24/hr, meaning the center is creating real opportunities both for students, and their families.
Graduates will enter the workforce equipped with the hands-on skills needed to succeed in today’s increasingly automated environment.
CWAE as regional economic engine
With a goal of adding 500 new welders to the workforce each year, CWAE is partnering with major employers such as Fluor and Vermeer Corporation to support regional growth.
The center plays a critical role in strengthening the workforce pipeline, supporting advanced manufacturing, infrastructure development and overall economic expansion across the Upstate.
CWAE is not just an investment, it is making an investment in the long-term growth of the Upstate.
