Skip to main content
Friday, November 13, 2026Nov 13
Subscribe
All Sections
Search
More

Employers begging for welders and machinists, workforce solutions summit officials say

Chattanooga City Councilman Larry Grohn makes a point Friday as U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann looks on during a strategy session on "recruiting a qualified workforce" at the Workforce Solutions Summit at Chattanooga State Community College's Health Science Center.
Chattanooga City Councilman Larry Grohn makes a point Friday as U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann looks on during a strategy session on "recruiting a qualified workforce" at the Workforce Solutions Summit at Chattanooga State Community College's Health Science Center. Chattanooga City Councilman Larry Grohn makes a point Friday as U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann looks on during a strategy session on "recruiting a qualified workforce" at the Workforce Solutions Summit at Chattanooga State Community College's Health Science Center.

By Tim Omarzu 3 min read

Read more

Tennessee Promise ups enrollment at Chattanooga State, Cleveland State

Welders are in such demand in Chattanooga that they get snapped up by employers even before they graduate from Chattanooga State Community College.

“We can’t put out enough welders here in Chattanooga,” said James Barrott, director of the Tennessee College of Applied Technology (TCAT), which offers training in welding and about two dozen other vocations at Chattanooga State.

Ditto for machinists, who have their pick of jobs when they finish the year-long training program at Chattanooga State’s TCAT.

“We just can’t find enough people to go into it,” Barrott said.