Transco, NICC to partner on training, recruiting 100 railcar workers

A private employer in Oelwein is working with Northeast Iowa Community College (NICC) in Calmar to provide training for future employees.

Transco Railway Products and NICC Business & Community Solutions have collaborated to develop the railcar repair pathways certificate. The pilot program, which is free for participants, is designed to assist Transco in hiring up to 100 employees over the next two years for its Oelwein shops.

Transco Railway Products, which employs more than 100, provides freight railcar repair, modification, and rebuilding service in Oelwein. The new Transco employees will work in a variety of areas including paint and blast, welding, and railcar repair and maintenance.

Wendy Mihm-Herold, vice president of business and community solutions at NICC, said using the company's Iowa Industrial New Jobs Training funding, NICC is able to provide customized training for new employees at Transco.

'This is truly a unique situation,” Mihm-Herold said. 'Many potential employees stand to greatly benefit from this free training opportunity with on-the-job skills training and options to further their education, as well as the obvious employment benefits of working at Transco.”

Shane Galligan, assistant division manager at Transco, said the railcar repair pathways certificate will provide needed training for Transco's workforce as the company ramps up for a large expansion.

The initial orientation for the NICC railcar repair pathways certificate pilot program will be held at 5:30 p.m. Feb. 19 at the NICC's Oelwein Regional Area Math and Science (RAMS) center. Those interested in participating in the program need to contact the RAMS Center at (319) 283-3010.