Trey Miller makes his way to Columbia Steel Supply, a sales and fabrication shop in Astoria, Oregon. Trey is an intern at Columbia Steel, sharpening the skills he learned at MTC’s Tongue Point Job Corps Center.

Foreman Kevin Sealy has worked closely with Trey over the last three months, teaching him valuable welding techniques and other skills Trey will need to succeed in his new career.

“Just learning day-to-day business of how the jobs are front start to finish; rather than just cutting a piece of metal and just welding it together,” says Kevin.

For Trey, the last 12 weeks have been paramount to his future success in the welding industry.

“I think it was a great experience coming here,” says Trey. “I loved it.”

Trey’s next stop is a job at a fabrication company in Longview, Washington. He’ll save up some money there and then go to Portland, Oregon where he’ll gain even more work experience with the Iron Workers Union. He says Job Corps was what he needed to get on the right career path.

“Today is my last day at Tongue Point, too,” says Trey. “And the experience there was awesome. I learned a lot more things there than I thought I would ever, because I never had this opportunity.”

As for Trey’s future in welding, Kevin says the sky is the limit.

“If you get into this industry and you can do a good job at it, there is definitely potential for work. There are more jobs than there are people to go around right now.”