Together, these programs illus- trate a workforce strategy that begins with career exposure and technical education and can continue through apprenticeship and into Alaska’s re - source and construction industries. A one-day career exploration class is also offered through the local school district, home schools and rural out- reach programs. It is supplemented with an optional multi-day session at the end of the school year. Each class and outreach opportu- nity comes with an explanation of ap - prenticeship programs. “A lot of young people just don’t know about the trades or about unions,” and the opportunities they bring,” Schumacher said. “Our mis - sion is to give Alaskans an opportu - nity in training for the oil and gas in- dustries.”
nities for young people to explore the trades. In that regard, FPTC’s work - force role increasingly starts long be- fore a student enters an apprentice- ship. The Fairbanks North Star Borough School District held a Welding Acad - emy at the FPTC complex in 2026, giving students hands-on experience with pipe welding, pipe cutting, stick, flux-core and TIG welding. Success - ful completion can provide a pathway into union apprenticeships. The center also recently partnered with the Doyon Foundation and Alas - ka Regional Career & Technical Inte - rior Consortium on an Intro to Heavy Duty Mechanics and Welding program for rural Doyon-region high school students. The program will give par - ticipating students hands-on experi - ence at FPTC while exposing them to industrial careers and union instruc- tion.
Former Fairbanks Borough Mayor Jim Sampson, also a former state labor commissioner, spearheaded develop- ment of the center on a lease of land owned by the borough. Over the years, the facility has grown to support a variety of region - al training needs mostly related to North Slope work including the Uni - versity of Alaska Fairbanks’ Commu - nity and Technical College process technology program. Also, the Alas- ka Construction Academy and Alas - ka Works programs, both of which facilitate craft-orientated career and technical orientation and outreach to school districts, are given support by the pipeline training center, Schum - acher said. An important part of the center’s mission is reaching out to high school students in career and technical edu- cation in Fairbanks and Interior Alas - ka communities to provide opportu -
— Tim Bradner
PROUDLY OUTFITTING ALASKA’S WORKFORCE
Photo Courtesy Fairbanks Pipeline Training Center The workforce pipeline is being built at multiple levels, from high-school students and rural youth programs to apprenticeships, industry credentials and skilled workers in Alaska’s natural resources industries.
then welded. Several crafts participate in this, for example teamsters in mov - ing the pipe, operators and laborers in loading and unloading, and plumbers and pipefitters in the installation and welding. A soon to be addition at the center is equipment to teach workers how to install Vertical Support Members (VSMs), which are used on the Slope to support the pipe, which is elevat - ed to protect the land surface and the underlying permafrost from heat transfer. Another class is also taught to train for safely working on scaf - folds, which are the temporary ele - vated platforms for workers and tools
for construction or maintenance. There’s also a drafting class to instruct in calculations of how to weld bends and curves in pipelines. There are classes in mechanics for heavy-duty equipment, too. Safety is a major theme in the training with daily briefings in the schedule. A re - sult of this is the superior safety re- cords of the craft unions participating in the training, Schumacher said. The center is on a 57-acre field with a nine-acre campus. The FPTC has several buildings to support class- room instruction, shops for equipment storage and training and a dormitory to support 36 non-Fairbanks trainees.
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(representing the Building Trades), are partners with FPTC. The unions send journeymen and apprentices to the center for everything from skills upgrades to health and safety class- es such as first aid and CPR certifi - cations. The hands-on training at the cen- ter is in addition to that provided by the craft unions. The pipeline train- ing center shows the construction of a mock pipeline segment and is done with pipe being loaded on trucks, moved to a work site, unloaded and
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