By Patricia Chadwick
For more than a few decades, increases in college tuition have significantly outpaced the rate of inflation in this country. Today, approximately 70% of undergraduate students are entering the job market with some level of debt in the form of a student loan, often as much as $40,000. A loan of “just” $20,000 is considered to be a manageable amount of debt to carry with them into their new life as a working person. Whether it be the parents—remortgaging their homes to pay some or all of the cost of tuition/room/board as they are nearing the end of their earning years—or their children, who assume the financial burden, the result is a drag on the economy. Purchasing power is diminished by the amount of the monthly loan payment; discretionary spending—the opportunity to travel or just go on a little splurge—is curtailed; accumulating savings towards a down payment on a home will take longer because of the burden of debt.
It should come as no surprise that the lure for an education that leads to a real professional position without a boatload of debt has become increasingly appealing to high school students. There was a time when “the trades” were deemed a less desirable career than employment in “the service sector.” But over time, as fewer people entered the blue collar workforce, the supply/demand characteristics changed the economics of this market. There is almost nothing more valuable that a plumber or an electrician who can say, “Yes, I can be there today.” Even if is a “tomorrow” appointment, that’s good news. The prices can be steep, but knowledge is valuable and I always appreciate that they can do something I cannot. Over the last thirty years, I’ve built great friendships with many of the skilled workers who have baled me out—turning fallen trees into firewood, replacing a damaged generator, repaving the driveway and of course dealing with the leaking ceiling, or the broken pipes in the basement. I love it when they trust me with their cell phone number—that’s when I know they’re on my side.
I was pondering how to write an upbeat story about the value of a career in the trades, when I suddenly thought of a school in Westerly, Rhode Island—Westerly Education Center. That school came into being by what one might call divine intervention. A couple, Rhode Island Senator Samuel Azzinaro and his wife, Carol, were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary with a dinner at The Ocean House where they were greeted by Chuck Royce, the entrepreneur who built the hotel. It was at that chance meeting in 2014 that the beginning of a resoundingly successful public/private partnership was formed. Chuck, who for years had sat on the board of Westchester Community College (WCC), was an ardent proponent of the two-year educational programs offered by community colleges. His vision of creating a similar school in Westerly had been a dream, but that chance meeting with Senator Sam Azzinaro led to a conversation that blossomed into what some might call a miracle. At the time, there was a small trade school program for high school graduates that was held after school hours in the high school itself. Chuck’s idea was to create a dedicated building that would be equipped to offer a broad array of courses to graduates of the local high school—a place that would replicate what he had witnessed at WCC.
In short order, Chuck was on a mission, one that comprised federal, state and local government officials, including both Senators Reed and Whitehouse, Governor Gina Raimondo, Nicholas Mattiello, Former Speaker of the R.I. House of Representatives, and R.I. Senator Dennis Algiere, as well as numerous local businesspeople including lawyer Tom Liguori who acted as organizer and facilitator to maintain the momentum of the project. No obstacle was too great—not chemicals in the soil, nor a building that needed to be replaced, nor the need to garner government funding. Electric Boat, the General Dynamics subsidiary headquartered in Groton, Connecticut became an important part of the project. Sean Davis, a vice president at the company committed to hire graduates trained in a number of maritime trades, including pipefitting, radiography, electrical and high voltage.
The ribbon cutting ceremony took place in January of 2017 and since that day, more than 42,000 men and women have attended Westerly Education Center, learning numerous skills that are turned into jobs as soon as they graduate. Lest you think this school educates only men, the Boat for Women is an Electric Boat trades exposure program that began in 2019. It introduces women to the sheet metal, pipefitting, and electrical trades training programs and its purpose is to eliminate stigmas associating trade work as being limited to men. That program remains very much alive and well six years later. Community College of Rhode Island (CCRI) is a strong educational partner with Westerly Education Center and offers workforce training in healthcare, bio-manufacturing and education. Both schools also offer traditional for-credit courses that appeal to students who are working toward an undergraduate degree.
Today, there are hundreds of vendors in the supply chain that hire trainees from Westerly Educational Center, and the school’s educational offerings have broadened into a number of other fields including healthcare, finance and education to the benefit of other companies in Rhode Island and Connecticut—including Amgen, Toray, Thielsch Engineering as well as a number of long-term care facilities. Financial aid for students and trainees comes in a variety of ways. For those who are pursuing a college degree, there is the option to apply for federal funding aid that can be applied to for-credit courses. The workforce trainings have generally been free for participants, and the cost has been defrayed both through the generosity of the private sector as well as through some public funding. Over the last seven years, the school has successfully applied for grants that have exceeded $15 million. While some students do enter the work force with modest debt, the burden is a far cry from what faces the majority of four-year-college graduates across this country.
When I asked the question, “To what do you attribute the success of Westerly Education Center,” the response was reassuring for its future. [It] “is a place where higher education, business, industry and community partners come together and create training programs to meet employer workforce demands. We have a creative team who put students first and are willing to devise programming that helps individuals earn the credentials they need in order to qualify for well-paying work.” Chuck Royce’s vision, some ten years ago, has become a reality. Thousands of skilled tradesmen and tradeswomen have excellent jobs that contribute to the economic health of Rhode Island and eastern Connecticut.
A postscript: Westerly Education Center is a unit of the Rhode Island Office of the Postsecondary Commissioner, whose mission is to ensure, promote, and expand postsecondary attainment by providing an effective system of postsecondary education and workforce training that is high quality equitable accessible, affordable, and aligned to pre-kindergarten-12 education and the economy.
Special thanks to Beth Bailey, chief communications officer for the Office of the Postsecondary Commissioner and its workforce, Rhode Island.
Patricia Chadwick is a businesswoman and an author. Her second memoir, Breaking Glass, with the subtitle: Tales from the Witch of Wall Street, came out last May. It tells of her “growing up” and succeeding in what was then the all-male bastion called Wall Street. Breaking Glass is a sequel to her first Memoir, Little Sister, the story of her childhood in a religious community-turned-cult. www.patriciachadwick.com
