In an effort to train Port Arthur youth for local jobs, Texas Workforce Solutions Chairman Andres Alcantar presented a $215,240 check to Lamar State College-Port Arthur and Port Arthur Independent School District Thursday.

The funding will be used to enhance dual credit opportunities for PAISD high school students enrolling at Lamar’s Port Arthur campus.

Ben Stafford, Lamar Port Arthur dean of Workforce Training, said the money would be used to purchase process technology equipment.

Process technology is one of the hottest job markets in the state, Stafford said.

“Process technology is so important and so sought after that the college has never had room for high school students,” Stafford said.

The new equipment will allow the college to double its program reach and enroll 10 high school students a year.

“It will allow us for the first time to give dedicated slots to Port Arthur high school students who want to learn this technology,” Stafford said.

When the students graduate from high school, they potentially can have earned up to a year’s worth of college. When they complete the two-year associate of science in process technology program they are almost guaranteed employment for a job with a starting pay in the mid-40s, Stafford said.

The one time grant is part of Texas Workforce’s Dual Credit Program Small Development Fund — a highly sought after funding source.

“We had the support of industry and PAISD helping us to get this grant,” Stafford said.

TWC officials looked at the area’s strong petrochemical industry and realized students would highly benefit from this type of program, Stafford said.

Admission criteria have not yet been written for the dual credit process technology program, but the college expects places in the classroom to be highly sought after.

The equipment could be here as early as February, and classes integrated as early as fall.

When implemented, the new program will compliment another program on Lamar’s horizon.

The old Woodrow Wilson School will be used for a College High School Program, pending approval by the Texas Education Agency.

The program could start as early as the fall, Gary Stretcher, Lamar PA vice president of academic affairs, said.

“The 10 slots will likely expand when the Early High School gets up and running,” Stretcher said.

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