Skills & Careers
A community college welding program in rural northeastern North Carolina aims to enroll 300 students over two years and help 270 graduates get welding jobs. Those numbers are goals, not results. Gov. Josh Stein visited Roanoke-Chowan Community College in Hertford County on Tuesday, Oct. 20, to highlight the program, called Weld to Work.
The program’s expansion is paid for by a $470,140 grant from the Southeast Crescent Regional Commission, a federal-state economic development partnership. The grant was awarded in 2024; it is not new money. U.S. Rep. Don Davis presented the check to the college on July 29, 2024. According to the governor’s office, the money pays for facility renovations, new equipment, a full-time instructor and tuition help. That lets the college serve up to 150 welding students a year. Neither the governor’s office nor the college has published how many students have enrolled since the grant or how many graduates have found welding jobs.
Who it trains, and for whom
Weld to Work serves residents of Hertford, Bertie and Northampton counties. The state said the training is matched to the needs of regional employers, including US Forged Rings, Nucor Steel and Newport News Shipbuilding.
The governor’s office presented the visit as part of its push for apprenticeships. However, the college describes Weld to Work as a short-term continuing-education course, not a registered apprenticeship. In 2024, the college called it a six-week certification course. It also said graduates can sit for American Welding Society certification. Last fall the college offered free day and night sections on its main campus. Day classes ran Monday through Thursday, and night students also met on Saturdays.
The 2024 grant was one of 10 North Carolina awards in the commission’s first State Economic and Infrastructure Development round, which totaled about $4 million for the state. Across six states, the commission funded 57 projects out of 363 applications. Davis said at the 2024 check presentation that the program is “a direct pathway to potentially hundreds of jobs.”
The college also had other help. Earlier in 2024, it received a separate $282,415 grant through the Hampton Roads Workforce Council. That money paid for six new welding booths, a full-time instructor, supplies and scholarships for up to 100 students. Two Weld to Work graduations the college publicized in 2024 recognized nine graduates in July and 11 in October.
Pay and demand
The college says entry-level welders in North Carolina and Virginia earn $17 to $26 an hour, and top-earning pipeline welders earn up to $35 an hour. Nationally, the Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the median pay for welders, cutters, solderers and brazers at $53,750 a year, or $25.84 an hour, in May 2025. The occupation had 437,700 jobs in 2025. BLS projects 2% growth from 2025 to 2035, slower than average. Still, it expects about 40,300 openings a year on average over the decade.
Unemployment in the three counties is lower than a year ago. In August, Hertford County’s unemployment rate was 4.2%, down from 4.8% a year earlier. Bertie County’s was 4.6%, down from 5.5%, and Northampton County’s was 4.5%, down from 5.8%. These are preliminary, not seasonally adjusted BLS figures. All three were designated Tier 1 counties, North Carolina’s most economically distressed category, when the grant was presented in 2024.
“Programs like Weld to Work will prepare the next generation of welding professionals and support economic growth in northeastern North Carolina,” Stein said.
The two-year goals of 300 students enrolled and 270 graduates placed in jobs are useful measures to track. Until the college or the state reports results, they remain targets.
Sources
- Office of the Governor of North Carolina, “Governor Stein Highlights Skilled Trades Apprenticeship Program in Hertford County,” October 20, 2026. https://governor.nc.gov/news/press-releases/2026/10/20/governor-stein-highlights-skilled-trades-apprenticeship-program-hertford-county
- Roanoke-Chowan Community College, “Congressman Don Davis presents $470,000 check to R-CCC,” August 7, 2024. https://roanokechowan.edu/Blog/463318/Congressman-Don-Davis-presents-470-000-check-to-R-CCC
- Office of U.S. Rep. Don Davis, “Eastern North Carolina Receives Over $1.3 Million for Infrastructure and Economic Development Projects,” July 30, 2024. https://dondavis.house.gov/media/press-releases/eastern-north-carolina-receives-over-13-million-infrastructure-and-economic
- Roanoke-Chowan Community College, “R-CCC receives grant award to increase job training for welding,” March 6, 2024. https://www.roanokechowan.edu/blog/r-ccc-receives-grant-award-to-increase-job-training-for-welding
- Roanoke-Chowan Community College, “Eleven graduates recognized at R-CCC Weld to Work Program,” October 16, 2024. https://www.roanokechowan.edu/Blog/470410/Eleven-graduates-recognized-at-R-CCC-Weld-to-Work-Program
- Roanoke-Chowan Community College, “Nine graduate from R-CCC Weld to Work Program,” July 12, 2024. https://roanokechowan.edu/Blog/461324/Nine-graduate-from-R-CCC-Weld-to-Work-Program
- Roanoke-Chowan Community College, “R-CCC Offers Free Welding Classes Starting Oct. 13,” October 6, 2025. https://www.roanokechowan.edu/Blog/r-ccc-offers-free-welding-classes-starting-oct-13
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook, “Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers,” accessed October 21, 2026. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/production/welders-cutters-solderers-and-brazers.htm
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, Hertford, Bertie and Northampton counties, N.C. (LAUCN37091, 37015, 37131), accessed October 21, 2026. https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LAUCN370910000000003
Featured photo: A U.S. Army soldier welds two metal pieces during training at Cohen Hall, Fort Gregg-Adams, Virginia, March 13, 2025. Representative image; not the Roanoke-Chowan Community College program or its students. Photo: Juan F. Jimenez, U.S. Army, via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain). Cropped from the original.
