TEDA TPCO America Corporation’s Donation Serving As Training Resource for Metallurgic Majors

Article by: Melinda Eddleman

On Sept. 13, TEDA TPCO America Corporation (TPCO America) provided a gift to Del Mar College (DMC) students majoring in metallurgic fields, such as Welding Technology and Nondestructive Testing Technology, that they’ll use to refine their skills as they prepare for the Texas Coastal Bend’s workforce. TPCO American’s Gregory, Texas-based plant, which produces seamless steel pipe, delivered 58 metric tons of pipe to the College’s West Campus that will now be used as a training resource.

The donation to Del Mar’s programs is valued at nearly $70,000 and includes 139 pieces of seamless steel pipe.

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An overhead crane loads seamless steel pipe on a flatbed truck for delivery to Del Mar College’s West Campus on Sept. 13, 2019, from TEDA TPCO America Corporation’s plant in Gregory, Texas. (Photo credit: DMC College Relations)

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At the TEDA TPCO America Corporation pipe donation were (left to right): Joe McComb, mayor of Corpus Christi; San Patricio County Judge David Krebs; Lenora Keas, DMC vice president of Workforce Development and Strategic Initiatives; Dan Korus, DMC dean of Workforce Programs and Corporate Services; Councilman Michael T. Hunter, City of Corpus Christi; Dara Betz, DMC director, Institutional Accreditations; and Zhu Xueqiang, TEDA TPCO America Corporation president. (Photo credit: DMC College Relations)

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Pipe is unloaded in the DMC Welding Program yard after delivery from TEDA TPCO America Corporation’s plant in Gregory, Texas, with a total of metric tons of seamless steel pipe valued at nearly $70,000 donated for students’ use in refining their skills. (Photo credit: DMC College Relations)

The gift is the second donation of pipe that TPCO America has given to the College. In December 2015, the corporation donated 30 metric tons of pipe to the College with another 30 metric tons also donated to the Craft Training Center and Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. The estimated value at that time for the total 60 metric tons of seamless steel pipe was $70,000.

The College’s partnership with TPCO America began in 2013 with the award of a Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) Skills Development Fund grant totaling $117,223 (Phase I) to cover customized training through DMC Workforce Programs and Corporate Services for 74 new workers in pipe manufacturing. Those funds also enabled employees to acquire the specific skills needed for plant operations––including pipe loaders, operators, technicians and managers.

DMC Workforce Programs and Corporate Services also received a second TWC Skills Development Fund grant in 2017 for $161,997 to train another 84 TPCO employees.

View remarks about TPCO America’s donation by Charles McKinny, Dean of the Technology, Industrial and Public Safety Education Division in the video below:

About Del Mar College

Del Mar College empowers students to achieve their dreams. We offer quality programs, individual attention, outstanding instruction through faculty with real-world experience and affordable costs to credit and noncredit students in Corpus Christi and the South Texas Coastal Bend area. Nationally recognized while locally focused, we’re ranked in the top two percent of community colleges in the country granting associate degrees to Hispanic students (Community College Week). Del Mar College focuses on offering our students programs that match current or emerging career opportunities. Whether students are interested in the fine arts, sciences, business, occupational or technical areas, students get the education they need for the future they want at Del Mar College.