2014 is a Big Year for Texas Gulf Coast Community Colleges
Since you’ve found this blog post, you already know that the Texas Gulf Coast Consortium of Community Colleges (TGCCCC) is taking some big steps this year. We have this brand new website to help us better communicate our efforts – as well as some huge initiatives we are implementing to better serve the Houston/Gulf Coast region.
You will notice in the main navigation of our website the Community College Petrochemical Initiative (CCPI) that we have implemented with the support of Exxon. Exxon and other petrochemical and oil & gas companies are building and expanding facilities in our region at an exponential rate. It is estimated that $35 billion will be spent on construction in the next decade, resulting in up to 22,000 construction jobs, alone. That doesn’t even account for the the tens of thousands of new technician and other full-time jobs that will be created inside the plants. Most of those jobs will require the training and education that an associate degree from our member colleges provides.
The supply of jobs at these petrochemical facilities is currently on pace to be greater than the number of workers in the region qualified to fill them. So, that’s why Exxon is helping TGCCCC recruit and educate students to help meet that demand. Along with the increase in students, our member colleges will need teachers to instruct and train them. We will be recruiting people with direct experience in these technical fields, who may be ready to retire from the petrochemical industry, to come to our campuses and help teach the next generation of workers. You will see us at events like the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo this month meeting and encouraging both potential new students and new teachers to apply at our colleges.
We also have similar initiatives in other fields, like healthcare, that we will launch later this year. Our region is booming with new, well-paying jobs in a variety of industries. It is our commission as members of the TGCCCC to make sure we are providing the education to local students that will help them fill those roles. So, please explore our new site and look at the exceptional pay structure for the petrochemical jobs and our other initiatives. Come join us as a student or instructor, or encourage someone you know to spend a couple of years getting an education that can change their future positively!