ROCK SPRINGS – Representatives of Questar Gas presented Western Wyoming Community College with a check for $15,000 earlier this month, nearly doubling the company’s contribution from the previous year in recognition of the productive partnership between Questar and the College’s Technology & Industry Division.
Steve Christiansen, SCADA automation manager for Questar’s exploration and production company, Wexpro, joined three other Questar employees, all Western alumni, in presenting the check to President Karla Leach, Community Relations Director David Tate, and Technology & Industry faculty members.
“Western Wyoming Community College cannot exist without our industry partners, and Questar is just another example of that excellent partnership and generosity that helps us to build and train skilled workers for Sweetwater County,” Leach said.
This is the third year that Questar has contributed to student scholarships at Western. The funds will support scholarships in Technology & Industry, Business and Science.
“Last year and the year before were about $8,000 each, so it has almost doubled this year,” Tate said. “They are just a great community partner and a great College partner.”
The return of three of Questar’s Western alumni to help present the check to College officials underscored the value that a Western education brings to students and employers in Wyoming. Christiansen said the three young men who accompanied him to campus have excelled in their responsibilities for Questar and serve as a positive reflection on the preparation that Western provides.
“It’s so nice that we don’t have to spend the lead time educating the guys for two years,” said Christiansen, who noted that Questar’s increased contribution this year reflects the company’s appraisal of the value Western brings to its operations and workforce. “When we get them, they’re not quite plug-and-play, but they’re as close as you’re going to get in an industrial environment.”
Dan Nichols, of Rock Springs, completed the Industrial and Mine Maintenance and Welding programs at Western.
“I got a really good education here, and it gave me a good start to get in with a company like Questar,” Nichols said.
Patrick Marshall, also of Rock Springs, is a graduate of Western’s Electrical and Instrumentation Technology program. He said that his hands-on learning experiences in the College’s T&I labs prepared him well for the work he does every day in the field.
“I got a lot of electrical theory, which is good, a good place to start,” Marshall said. “I got a little work on a lot of instruments here that I work on day-to-day and troubleshoot. So it gives me a good background to fall back on.”
Evanston native Travis McDonald completed Western’s Electrical and Instrumentation and Natural Gas Compression programs.
“It gave me a good foundation to build upon,” McDonald said of his Western degree. “It started me out with all the fundamentals, the basics, so I could build upon that and become specialized in what I currently do. The program here really opened a lot of doors for me and provided me with a great opportunity.”
In addition to scholarship funding and support for the Oil and Gas Production and Natural Gas Compression Technology programs, Questar has generously donated a significant piece of heavy equipment – a gas-fired turbine – for the new Western Wyoming Workforce Training Center (W3TC), which opened in January.
The W3TC, funded in part by a Wyoming Business Council grant, provides crucial workforce training and classroom space. The donated turbine, valued at about $344,000, is a significant contribution to the W3TC’s teaching infrastructure and will provide additional learning opportunities for students as they prepare for success in Wyoming’s dynamic industrial workforce.
