Regional employers creatively solve the welder shortage
By: Megan Williams | Photos by: Ashlee Glen
According to the American Welding Society, more than 159,000 welding professionals nationwide are approaching retirement. While Virginia currently employs a higher percentage of welders than many other states, the fact remains that welding is an in-demand profession. In fact, it’s estimated that 330,000 new welding professionals will be needed nationwide by 2028 (American Welding Society).
While it’s true that many skilled welders are needed to meet future demand, the situation is nuanced and also speaks to the opportunities awaiting professionals entering the field or those considering a career change—especially considering the incoming wave of retirements.
In the Lynchburg region, employers are creatively getting ahead of the impending welder remand by recruiting high school and college students into the trade through the Central Virginia Welding Wars.
Central Virginia Welding Wars is a competition designed for high school, college, and professional welders to compete in a series of tests to assess their skills and abilities in welding. A joint effort between Central Virginia Community College (CVCC), Campbell County Economic Development, C&C Piping and Fabrication, the Lynchburg Regional Business Alliance and the Central Virginia Workforce Development Board, Central Virginia Welding Wars is a new spin on a traditional job fair environment, inciting healthy competition amongst aspiring welding professionals.
“There is a big demand for welders in our area, and this is a recruitment effort to connect college and high school students with companies hiring like BWXT, Southern Air, C&C, and so on,” explained Cody Hurd co-owner of C&C Piping and Fabrication and CVCC Welding Program Director.
Hurd has been Program Director with CVCC since September of 2023 and has been teaching at the community college since 2015. Since coming on board as program director, the community college has added 17 new pieces of welding equipment, upgraded lighting, and shifted their program emphasis from comprehension to hands-on learning.
The environment at Central Virginia Welding Wars, which takes place annually in the springtime, is energizing. Behind vinyl welding curtains, which protect the eyes and passersby from stray sparks, high school, college, and professional welders complete a series of tasks that gauge their skillset. At the 2024 Central Virginia Welding Wars, which took place in May, 11 professionals competed alongside students.
At the 2024 Welding Wars, fifteen professional businesses were represented alongside 11 professionals, plus college and high school students. “We reached out to young folks, showing them that you can have a solid career without a four-year degree,” Hurd said.
“It’s also an opportunity to show students where they can go,” said Hurd. “By seeing the professionals, they can see what the best of the best looks like.
Plus, welders like bragging rights, so this is fun for us.”
For the professionals competing, they are charged with welding a six-inch pipe which, according to Hurd, requires extreme precision and skill. High school students are tasked with fusing two plates together into a t joint.
“You only have one chance, you don’t want to mess up,” said Malik Ware, a Welding III student at Amherst County High School who took home first place in the High School Level 1 competition.
Most of the high school students participating in the Central Virginia Welding Wars are higher level welding students, having completed the first introductory classes in their earlier years.
“My dad has been a welder and I’ve always been raised around it,” Ware said. “I got interested as a sophomore and I’ve just stuck with it—this is what I want to do.”
Each group competing is given a set time limit to complete their welding project. Once cooled, their piece gets labeled with a number, after which a group of six judges use a rubric to score the projects.
The criteria cover seven categories: width of buildup, appearance, face of bead, edge of bead, beginning and ending full size, surrounding plate, and penetration.
“The judges all make rounds walking around the welding area to make sure all contestants are following the same rules, such as if the weld is in the right position for the contest—flat, horizontal, or vertical up. It adds a little real-life pressure for the students competing and makes them sweat a little,” Hurd said.
For the 2024 Welding Wars, Malik Ware won first place in High School Level 1, Deven Ballard from Heritage High School won first place in High School Level 2, Adam Tweedy from Virginia Technical Institute won first place in the college level, and Jonathan Browning won first place on the professional level.
“The 2024 Welding Wars was incredible, full of talented and eager welders ready to take on the Lynchburg area,” said Hurd. “Now in its sixth year, it’s grown with more competitors, vendors, sponsors, and companies. This year, we had a few new companies join us and we want to keep that going. Our big dream for the Welding Wars has always been to ‘light a fire with the youth for the craft of welding’ and show that welding is a great way to support yourself and your family, no matter where you end up.”
Hurd reiterated that, with the older generation of welders retiring, there’s a noticeable gap in skilled workers. He and his wife, who own C&C Piping and Fabrication both saw the drop in qualified welders approaching and see Welding Wars as the path forward to filling those gaps.
“Welding keeps evolving,” Hurd said. “We need to keep up with new tech to teach it right. It’s not just about learning to burn rods—it’s about knowing why and how they work and teaching students to weld safely.”
