HIWT is Expanding

The 6360 sq ft expansion, scheduled for completion by this fall, will house 50-60 fully equipped arc welding booths, and a state-of-the-art fume exhaust system.

Driven by a demand for welding training and increasing enrollment, ground is being broken to enlarge the northeast area of the Hobart Institute of Welding Technology (HIWT; Troy, OH). The 6360 sq ft structure will house between 50 and 60 additional arc welding booths, universally equipped for all processes for high-scheduling flexibility and a state-of-the-art fume exhaust system.

http://youtu.be/rAlf1yVbQW0

The Hobart Institute that was established in 1930 has undergone several expansions throughout the years, most recently in 2005 with a major renovation. Revenue from skill training has more than doubled in the past eight years. To accommodate that capacity, more efficient use of existing space and an additional second shift was accomplished.

Notably, HIWT has been able to accomplish all of this with only one tuition increase in the past ten years! The Hobart Institute is currently operating at full capacity. This new construction will enable the Institute to accommodate up to an additional 60 students on each shift.

With a goal to maintain the architectural and aesthetic integrity of the original design, construction is set to begin in early summer and the first classes will utilize the building in the late fall 2013. Ferguson Construction Company has been granted the contract.

The Institute employs 40 people in instructional, administrative, and office support areas. It is estimated that the economic impact of having the Hobart Institute in Troy amounts to between $6 million and $7 million annually as the students spend money for housing, meals, gasoline, recreation, and other basic supplies while attending classes for up to nine months.

It is often said that the true effect is two to three times that much, as the students’ expenditures pay someone else’s payroll and this then continues on indefinitely before the monies funnel out of the community.

www.welding.org/