Proclamation issued by Texas Governor Greg Abbott for the Brazoria County Petrochemical Council (BCPC) Career Signing Day.

BCPC Signing day celebrates the most students getting job offers

May 11, 2022

BCPC Career Signing Day

Four dozen Brazoria County high school seniors will walk from the graduation stage this month to a job site after accepting job offers from Brazoria County Petrochemical Council member companies.

The number of hires, spread across 18 companies, was the most in the four years of Career Signing Day, which took place Monday night at Associated Builders and Contractors in Freeport.

The offers for the students to step immediately into a trade followed the BCPC’s interview day April 21, during which each student could speak with four participating companies.

“About 70 students were interviewed and we had about 25 companies that came on board to interview with us, so we did over 280 interviews,” Brazosport ISD CTE Director Jessie Jennings said. “These students are here tonight to be recognized for their hard work and input that they’ve done these last four years. We’re so proud of each and every one of these students and we’re so grateful to the industry representatives.”

ICS Inc. hired the most students for the second year in a row, with seven agreeing to start their careers at the company.

“I’ve been involved with it since the start, and so we try to make sure we try to get as many of them as we can,” ICS General Manager Ray Lopez said. “They have to keep the position. We give them the job, but they have to work at it. This is helpful because there are not enough people. We hired seven people. It’s going to teach them about life because they’ve been sheltered. This gives them a different outlook. It will teach them a lot about life.”

Using the BCPC program and taking advantage of the growth of Career and Technical Education education in public schools benefits both the student and company, said Aaron Ennis, resource development director for Brazosport ISD who also serves as workforce development chairman for the BCPC.

“One thing I want to point out is that it couldn’t be done without the backbone of our community — contractors and all of the organizations that are willing to hire, train and educate the students,” he said. “With CTE, I believe it’s starting to hit the mainstream where our companies are starting to recognize that as a recruiting field for the future talent.”

Two of the new ICS hires were Angleton High School students Miguel Mendez and Andrew Lanzas.

“This is the greatest opportunity ever,” Lanzas said. “I’m glad I got the job offer. It’s amazing we get to start off this early with jobs this good. Also thinking about college, of course; that’s a big thing. I’m going to go bigger and make more money. That’s the goal.”

https://thefacts.com/news/article_4e389f55-89ee-54e7-8302-968859cf10ea.html

Learning to weld at the BCPC Welding Academy. Photo courtesy of The Facts.

BCPC Completes One Million Dollar College Lab Donation

A One Million Dollar Commitment Completed

As it first appeared in The Facts.

Million Dollar Welding Lab
The members of the BCPC contributed a total of one million dollars to Brazosport College for its Welding Lab.

The BCPC Completes One Million Dollar College Lab Donation. As a part of its ongoing commitment to the area’s workforce development, members of th

e Brazoria County Petrochemical Council recently completed their pledge to donate $1 million to the Welding Technologies Lab at Brazosport College. It is now officially known as the Brazoria County Petrochemical Council Welding Lab.

The donation to the BCPC Welding Technologies Lab, and support of local industry partners, has spawned new momentum for training and certification in the petrochemical trades. Brazosport College and the members of the BCPC are engaged in collaborative efforts to enhance the pipeline of students with dual credit classes, career and technology centers, plus other collaborative efforts, including the Veterans Career and Resource Fair, Signing Day and the Women in Industry Conference.

“Our members want to help develop and recruit local residents for lifelong careers in the petrochemical industry,” said Chris Witte, BASF senior vice president and chairman of the BCPC’s Workforce Development Committee. “These are positions with excellent pay and benefits that can support families, allow them to stay in the area, or take their skills to other parts of the country.”