Latest news with #Pierpont
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
High-demand careers to be focus of Pierpont Community and Technical College summer camps
FAIRMONT — Middle and high school students have a chance to learn about high-demand careers this summer at Pierpont Community & Technical College. The college's lineup of 2025 Summer Manufacturing Camps will provide hands-on experiences in welding, mechanized electronics, computer networking and more. The four week-long camps will run throughout June and July, and provide age-appropriate, project-based learning in a fun and engaging environment. 'These camps introduce students to manufacturing careers at an age when they're just beginning to explore potential pathways,' Kari Coffindaffer, dean of the School of Business, Aviation & Technology said. 'By making these experiences fun and accessible, we're addressing the critical workforce pipeline for our regional manufacturers while showing young people they can build rewarding careers right here in West Virginia.' The camps are supported by SparkForce, industry sponsors, including TC Energy and Hope Gas, whose backing highlights the need to develop skilled manufacturing talent in North Central West Virginia. Each camp has been designed to provide age-appropriate, hands-on learning with specialized equipment and technology. Virtual Reality Welding Camp, which will be held June 9-13 for students ages 11-14, will offer welding technology through innovative virtual reality simulators, and provide a safe introduction to this high-demand skill. Manufacturing/Mechatronics Camp, which will be held June 16-20 for students ages 14-17, will offer insight into automation, robotics, and mechatronics principles while completing hands-on projects. Beginners Welding Camp, which will be held June 23-27 for students ages 14-17, will teach the fundamentals of welding safety, tool identification, and precision measurement and create real welded projects. Survival Networking Camp, which will be held July 7-11 for students ages 14-17, will master computer networking fundamentals through an engaging "zombie apocalypse" scenario in which they must rebuild digital infrastructure. 'Students don't just learn how to use equipment — they learn how these skills translate to real careers,' Jack Lowe, program coordinator for Advanced Welding at Pierpont, said. In addition to technical skills, all camps incorporate entrepreneurship education through the curriculum provided by SparkForce. Students learn how manufacturing skills can lead to business opportunities and innovative product development. The manufacturing camps will run from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily at Pierpont's campus in Fairmont. Registration is $100 per student. Each camp is limited to 12 participants to ensure quality instruction and adequate access to equipment. 'The generous support from our industry partners allows us to provide state-of-the-art experiences at an affordable price,' Camp Coordinator Charles Christopher said. 'These companies recognize that today's campers could be tomorrow's skilled workforce, and they're investing in that future.' Parents can register their children at
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
MHI RJ donates $15,000 to Pierpont Community & Technical College
BRIDGEPORT, (WBOY) — North central West Virginia has seen an increase in aviation students across the area, and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) RJ is helping the career field soar with its recent donation. On Thursday, MHI RJ presented a check worth $15,000 to the Pierpont Foundation, which will be used for students at Pierpont Community and Technical College's Aviation Maintenance Technology program. 12 News spoke with Michael Genin, MHI RJ's director of operations, on why the company chose to donate to the program. 'It's a very important part of this community; it's a very important feeder to make our business a success as well. We have it right here in the airfield, that's not very common with kind of area, where we have all the companies and a school right here with it. We feel like it's up to us to also ensure that we are not only, you know, helping the school out, but it's helping this airfield out as well,' Genin. Clarksburg-Harrison Public Library opens 'Tool Lending Library' MHI RJ often partners with Pierpont's Aviation Maintenance Technology program, providing its students with internships and full-time careers after completion of the program. Brad Gilbert, the director of Pierpont's Aviation Maintenance Technology program, also spoke with 12 News on how collaborations like this benefit students. 'Nationwide, there's a tremendous shortage in aircraft mechanics, so being able to partner with a large representative of the industry goes a long way to help fill that gap between the demand and supply of technicians,' Gilbert said. Gilbert also said that the program has seen a significant increase in students over the last two years, reaching its maximum capacity of 130 students each year. The funds donated from MHI RJ will specifically go toward student tuition and FAA exam fees. 12 News also spoke with Kathy Hypes, director of the Pierpont Foundation, on MHI RJ's donations benefiting the students. 'Many of our students have barriers that we help them overcome. Barriers such as financial assistance that is needed, so partnerships and collaborations with our industry partners are really a benefit to the students, because it helps them pursue their educational goals,' Hypes said. Pierpont's Aviation Maintenance Technology will hold its Girls' Aviation Day in September. A Youth in Aviation event will also be held at The Bridge in August. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Utah Capitol paychecks: Why top government staffers make more than big state counterparts
The top government employees at the Utah Capitol earn more than their counterparts in some of the country's most populous states, according to publicly available salary information. The chiefs of staff for the Utah Governor's Office, Utah Senate and Utah House all made over $300,000 in 2024, with each position receiving a 40% raise over the previous two or three years, according to data that is accessible through the Utah state auditor's Transparent Utah website. Legislative leadership said the salaries and raises are justified because Utah's part-time Legislature and its relatively small number of legislative staff require the people in full-time positions to cover a variety of responsibilities, making the jobs demanding and difficult to fill in the state's tight labor market. Jon Pierpont, who Gov. Spencer Cox brought on as chief of staff in 2021, received a salary of nearly $338,000 in 2024, not including benefits, which add nearly $123,600 to last year's total. Cox earned just over $182,200 that same year, with an additional $62,800 in benefits. It is not unusual for a governor's chief of staff to make more than a governor. This was the case in most of the states reviewed by the Deseret News. Similar chief-of-staff positions for governors in other states with easily accessible government employee data all made less: Utah: $337,986 (2024) Texas: $335,710 (2025) Connecticut: $240,710 (2025) Indiana: $220,000 (2024) New York: $214,322 (2023) Ohio: $212,991 (2024) Florida: $205,486 (2025) Idaho: $189,509 (2025)* Massachusetts: $185,285 (2024) *Estimate based on hourly rate. Of these states, Utah has one of the smallest populations, at 3.5 million, compared to 31.3 million in Texas, 23.4 million in Florida, 19.9 million in New York, 11.9 million in Ohio, 7.1 million in Massachusetts, 6.9 million in Indiana, 3.7 million in Connecticut and 2 million in Idaho. 'The context matters: He not only leads the Governor's Office as Chief of Staff, but also serves as Chief Operating Officer over 20 state agencies and 22,000 employees — overseeing a budget and workforce larger than those managed by most tech CEOs,' said Rob Carroll, senior adviser for communications to Cox, in a statement. Utah state executive offices are each headed by a director, a commissioner or board members who report to Pierpont. Most of these leaders belong to Cox's Cabinet and earn between $200,000-250,000 a year. Before joining the Governor's Office, Pierpont, who attended the University of Utah, worked as the executive director of Utah's Department of Workforce Services for eight years under former Gov. Gary Herbert. Pierpont's annual salary doubled during his first year as chief of staff from $120,574 in 2021 to $242,572 in 2022, before increasing by $50,000 in 2023 and $40,000 in 2024, constituting a nearly 40% raise over those two years. The chiefs of staff in Utah's state House and Senate have also seen regular salary increases. While the Legislature appropriates funding for government agencies, each office determines employee salaries. The Senate president and House speaker determine the salary of their respective chief of staff. Senate chief of staff Mark Thomas' salary has increased from just under $148,000 in 2019 to more than $314,200 in 2024, including a 20.5% raise from 2023 to 2024. These totals do not include benefits which made up another $117,300 in 2024. Here's how that salary compares to similar positions in other states: Texas: $335,000 (2024) Utah: $314,226 (2024) Indiana: $235,242 (2024) Connecticut: $226,425 (2025) Florida: $213,216 (2025) Ohio: $211,312 (2024) Massachusetts: $187,537 (2024) New York: $175,994 (2023) Idaho: $101,234 (2025)* *Estimate based on hourly rate. Utah's Senate chief of staff oversees all Senate employees and works with legislative leadership to 'manage the day-to-day operations of the Senate' and to coordinate with the House and Governor's Office, according to a statement from the state Senate majority. Thomas, who studied political science at the University of Utah, came to his Senate position from the Lieutenant Governor's Office, where he served as the state's elections director under then-Lt. Gov. Cox. Likewise, over the past four years, House chief of staff Abby Osborne's salary has increased from around $183,800 in 2020 to nearly $315,200 in 2024, with a 15% raise from the previous year. This does not include the $104,800 she also received in benefits. Here's how that salary compares to similar positions in other states: Utah: $315,194 (2024) Texas: $250,000 (2025) Connecticut: $219,115 (2025) Florida: $205,008 (2025) Ohio: $193,059 (2024) New York: $184,886 (2023) Indiana: $183,534 (2024) Massachusetts: $174,983 (2024) Idaho: $103,896 (2025)* *Estimate based on hourly rate. Osborne, who studied business management at Montana Technological University, previously worked as the senior vice president of public policy and government relations for the Salt Lake Chamber. While it comes out near the top in terms of chief of staff salaries, Utah has a shorter legislative session than any of the other states. In 2025, Utah's first-in-the-nation session was 45 days long. Meanwhile, Florida's will be 60 days, Idaho's will be 95 days, Indiana's will be 112, Texas' will be 140, Connecticut's will be 148 days and Ohio's, Massachusetts' and New York's are year-round. As a part-time citizen legislature, Utah employs fewer full-time staff than most states, potentially putting more responsibility on the chiefs of staff to handle a greater variety of jobs and to manage some of the workload of the Senate president and House speaker during the interim. Here are the nine states considered above, ranked by the number of full-time legislative staff in 2021, with the number of part-time employees hired during the session in parenthesis: New York: 2,850 (88) Texas: 1,619 (299) Florida: 1,448 (103) Massachusetts: 791 (0) Ohio: 436 (0) Connecticut: 427 (70) Indiana: 270 (38) Utah: 165 (74) Idaho: 89 (124) For fiscal year 2021, Utah spent less on legislative branch expenditures than 41 other states, ranking fifth in the country when comparing legislative costs to Utah's overall budget, according to a report from the National Conference of State Legislatures. Since 2004, Utah's population has increased by 45% but the number of state employees has increased by just 7%, according to the Governor's Office. A joint statement from Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton, and House Speaker Mike Schultz, R-Hooper, said that as one of the fastest-growing and best-run states in the nation, Utah requires 'the hard work, expertise and dedication of highly qualified public servants.' 'Staff who manage operations, advise decision-makers and oversee a wide range of urgent, sensitive and complex issues are indispensable,' the statement said. 'Utah's part-time legislature is backed by a full-time staff, creating an efficient structure that enables lawmakers to concentrate on serving the public while relying on a dedicated team to provide ongoing support. This requires long hours and high levels of dedication. That's why it's not just important but essential to have the right people in key positions.' Utah's citizen Legislature pays part-time lawmakers $293.55 per day for all authorized legislative days, for a total of $13,200 delivered as a lump sum payment before the beginning of the session, according to a 2024 report. Lawmakers may receive reimbursements for travel, meals and lodging and are also entitled to retirement benefits and a health care insurance package. Legislative leadership also receive a bonus of $3,000-5,000 a session depending on their position, with the average legislator making nearly $37,200 a session. Schultz and Adams in their statement said that the compensation appropriated for their top aides is 'comparable with wages for city, county and state level executive employees.' 'We deeply value the contributions of all our state employees, and we believe that investing in top-tier talent is critical to safeguarding Utah's long-term success and ensuring the sustainability of our government,' the statement said. In the upcoming year, Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall is estimated to make just under $189,300, while her chief of staff, Rachel Otto, will make over $231,000, not including benefits. Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson made just over $191,600 in 2024, while her chief of staff, Andrew Roberts, made over $151,400. Meanwhile, Provo City Mayor Michelle Kaufusi made $145,000 and her deputy, Isaac Paxman, made just over $149,300. Last month, Senate Budget Chairman Jerry Stevenson, R-Layton, said that lawmakers approve higher salaries for their staff 'to keep everyone up into what we call 'market.'' Senate Minority Leader Luz Escamilla, D-Salt Lake City, defended the salaries Utah pays. Top legislative aides are 'very unique positions,' she said. Adams said it comes down to supply and demand. It is hard to hire qualified attorneys in Utah's tight labor market, Adams said, suggesting that salary surveys had showed a need for raises. 'We've either got to pay our people competitively or we're not going to have people. And that's probably the bottom line,' Adams said. In several analyses, Utah ranks around the middle of the pack in terms of cost of living, with Forbes naming it the 20th most expensive place to live in the country, U.S News & World Report naming it No. 25 and World Population Review putting it at No. 17. On housing affordability, however, Utah ranks among the very worst. World Population Review places the state sixth highest on a scale of median home value, and ATTOM data puts it at No. 7, with a median home price of over $550,000. Utah is tied in seventh place for lowest unemployment rate in the country.
Yahoo
08-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Plastic bags in retail stores could soon be banned with new bill
SANTA FE, N.M. (KRQE) – The plastic bags most New Mexicans carry groceries or takeout food with might be different soon, statewide. That is, if a bill that's gaining traction makes it through the Roundhouse. A Democratic lawmaker's bill, HB 392, is leading the charge to ban most single-use plastic bags and boxes that are not able to be recycled or reused. 'What we have to do to help work towards mitigating the plastic waste crises is reduce some of these plastics that we simply don't need,' said Sarah Pierpont, Executive Director of New Mexico Recycling Coalition. What advocates call a growing problem that needs to be tackled in New Mexico. Plastic waste is the target of the proposed 'Single-Use Plastic Bag Act,' which aims to ban the use of plastic bags at all New Mexico retail stores. Under the proposed bill, plastic bags could still be used in some situations, like takeout liquids. If a customer doesn't bring their own bag? The law would make shoppers buy recycled paper bags for ten cents each. Cities or counties could also increase that fee. 'And that might seem like a big change and hard to manage but cities like Santa Fe and Las Cruces have done that and it really requires that the residents get on board and they bring their own bag and then it creates a funding mechanism for that community to help with litter prevention,' said Pierpont. Rep. Tara Lujan (D-Santa Fe) is a lead sponsor on the bill. She recently told lawmakers, New Mexico uses around 330 million single-use plastic bags each year. 'Plastic bags are not just polluting our world's oceans. they're also clogging up New Mexico's acequias waterways and roadsides, costing millions of dollars to clean up,' said Rep. Lujan. If the bill passes, retailers could face up to $1,000 fines for any violations. While a similar bill died two years ago, supporters say they're feeling confident this time. 'It's just like any 60-day session, we are all racing to get across the finish line. It's not dead yet, we're feeling really optimistic,' said Pierpont. A portion of the money collected from the bag fees would also go to local governments for litter and waste reduction projects. The bill also carves out an exception for people on assistance programs. The bill passed its first committee this session and is slated to face a second committee Friday night. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Pierpont Community and Technical College president gone after a little over a year and a half
FAIRMONT — Milan Hayward is out as president of Pierpont Community and Technical College. The school confirmed Wednesday afternoon that Provost Michael Waide has been named interim president. The updated information is also present on the school's website. It's not clear under what circumstances Hayward left the school, or what impact the revolving door of presidents has on the school's faculty and staff. According to the Board of Governors' meeting minutes from a special session on Jan. 9, the board discussed approving a separation agreement as well as the need to name an interim president before Jan. 21. The meeting took place behind closed doors. Stephanie Moore, the school's new marketing director, said the board of governors has officially approved Waide as interim president, and that the school is grateful for Hayward's service to Pierpont. She added the school was in the midst of making preparations to formally announce Waide as the interim president. David Hinkle, chair of the school's board of governors, did not return a phone call requesting comment on the change by press time. The Pierpont Board of Governors unanimously agreed to hire Hayward in April 2023. '[Hayward's] experience in workforce development, grant development, community outreach and building partnerships with K-12 school systems fits perfectly with Pierpont's vision for its future,' Hinkle said in 2023. 'We look forward to working with Dr. Hayward as he begins his presidential leadership of Pierpont Community and Technical College.' After Hayward's predecessor, Johnny M. Moore, stepped down in 2021, the board spent two years looking for a replacement. During that period the school went through two interim presidents, Anthony Hancock and Kathleen Nelson. The school faced the threat of dissolution in 2022, when a bill in the West Virginia State Legislature sought to re-merge Fairmont State University and Pierpont. The dissolution episode led to poor relations between both schools which Hayward made a point to fix during his presidency. His mission gained new currency after Fairmont State's new president, Mike Davis, also signaled his desire to bring both institutions together in cooperation rather than rivalry. Hayward and Davis hosted a luncheon in August 2023 at the Marion County Chamber of Commerce where both men made it clear rivalry was not the way forward, and that a better Fairmont 'first requires breaking bread.' At the event, Hayward said he intended to meet with Davis at least once a quarter. Hayward also had the task of carving out an individual identity for Pierpont. The college held regular 'Experience Pierpont' days to introduce the community to the school and get the word out about the opportunities it offered. 'The community college is all about meeting folks where they are,' Hayward said. 'And helping them realize their interests, strengths and develop those talents and come away with skill sets that they can put to work right away and make a difference in their family and their community.' Waide began his administrative career at Pierpont in 2016, when according to his LinkedIn account, the school hired him as a chief judicial officer. Waide's job was to investigate complaints of violations of the student code of conduct and impose sanctions. From there, Waide became academic dean of the School of Health Sciences, as well as interim provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs. Waide is also a tenured professor in the Medical Laboratory Technology program and is a licensed medical laboratory scientist. In 2022, Waide spoke in support of a plan to allow Pierpont students who complete a health science degree to qualify for credit hours at Fairmont State University. According to his bio on the school's website, Waide has two masters degrees as well as a doctorate in education. Waide's research focused on the relationship between the resilience and persistence of nontraditional-aged community college students and academic success.
