kens5.com
Posted on February 15, 2013 at 5:43 PM
Updated today at 5:52 PM
KERRVILLE -- They may be more than a hundred miles from the Eagle Ford Shale play, but welders at Fox Tank Company are part of the oil boom? from a warehouse in Kerrville, Texas.
?Our backbone and the foundation of our business has been the smaller, independent oil man,? said company vice president Nathan Fox.
Fox Tank Company has been doing business for 40 years, and the maker of oilfield tanks is getting busier, building tanks capable of holding up to 32,000 gallons of crude.
?We should have the capacity to build 80 tanks a week. That?s still a lot of product,? Fox said.
Welding the steel tanks takes a skilled workforce, something Kerrville wants to see grow, especially since in recent years the city?s growth has been in retiring senior citizens.
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?The only young folks that are still here are those who can?t afford to get out of town! And that?s really unfortunate,? Kerr County Judge Pat Tinley said.
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Tinley said he was only ?partly? kidding.
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He and other Kerr County leaders welcome Alamo Colleges? new vocational training facility, which was showcased Friday at a news conference announcing a Texas Workforce grant.
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Combined with the TWC?s $304,848 grant, the idea is to train 135 workers on the welding techniques needed to keep up with the demand.
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?Having a facility that will actually train employees that will be able to leave that school, leave Alamo and be able to fall right into our production line; that is really important to me,"?Fox said.
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?It?s good for us economically, and it gives our people here an opportunity to find good job opportunities,? Tinley said.
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Kerrville?s vocational training is strategic?after all, the Hill Country community is a central hub, from which oil fields in north, south and west Texas can be easily reached.
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Welders and painters would make up to $20 an hour -- enough to make an honest living in the Hill Country, where the cost of living is slightly higher than the state?s average.
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