The US$22 million workforce training center will provide instruction for new employees at Benteler’s US$975 million steel tube manufacturing facility in Shreveport, La.
 
“This training facility is crucial to our success in the United States. The workforce potential here is one of the core reasons we chose Shreveport for our first U.S. facility,” said Patrick Guillaume, Benteler Steel/Tube Shreveport project director. “Benteler has more than 100 years of experience perfecting steel tube manufacturing processes. We want to share that knowledge and build a highly qualified manufacturing workforce here that will sustain our business, and the manufacturing industry in Northwest Louisiana, for decades to come.”
 
The 65,000-square-foot training center features labs mimicking Benteler’s manufacturing lines, as well as other facilities used to train workers for jobs in the advanced manufacturing, construction and energy sectors. The flexible, world-class workspace houses BPCC’s oil and gas technology, engineering, construction and manufacturing programs.
 
“It’s a new day in manufacturing,” said BPCC Chancellor Jim Henderson. “Today’s employers need employees with advanced skills. They need problem solvers and trouble shooters. They need employees who have savvy computer, programming, and mechatronic skills. BPCC is excited to partner and work with LED FastStart and Benteler to meet our area industry needs.”
 
As they designed the training programs for BPCC, Henderson and officials from Louisiana Economic Development FastStart, the State of Louisiana’s workforce development and training program, visited Benteler’s steel tube plant in Paderborn, Germany to observe Benteler’s production cycle and systems.
 
The new facility includes a mock steel tube rolling station, 10 classrooms, a computer lab, conference room and other training spaces that can accommodate more than 220 Benteler employees at once. All of Benteler’s new employees will go through orientation at the facility followed by customized training for specific job functions. Benteler held its first training sessions in the building in August 2014.
 
Classes in the facility are taught by Benteler employees, LED employees or contractors, BPCC staff and others. Topics covered include computer/systems, management and leadership, safety awareness, forklift, crane, hydraulics, and welding skills. Some of the classes will result in additional certifications for those that complete them.
 
Benteler broke ground on its 1.35 million-square-foot facility at Caddo-Bossier Port on 16 September 2013. Production at the facility is expected to start on 1 August 2015. Benteler’s customized seamless hot-rolled steel tubes and seamless cold-drawn precision steel tubes are produced for international customers in the automotive, OCTG line pipe, heat transfer, hydraulics precision engineering and construction sectors.
 
Benteler currently has about 120 employees in Shreveport and expects that number to grow to approximately 200 by the end of the year. By the end of 2015, Benteler expects to have more than 500 employees at the hot-rolling steel tube mill. At full capacity, the plant will have more than 675 employees.
 

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Benteler Steel/Tube is a specialist in the manufacturing and processing of seamless hot-rolled steel tubes, and seamless cold-drawn precision steel tubes, serving international customers in the automotive, OCTG/line pipe, heat transfer, hydraulics/precision engineering, and construction sectors. Exploratory drilling requires high-quality steel tubes that can withstand immense stresses, and Benteler’s product portfolio includes a range of steel tubes that meet the extreme requirements in energy exploration.
 
Benteler Steel/Tube is a business unit of the global Benteler Group, which is headquartered in Salzburg, Austria. Founded in 1876, the company is proud of its more than 135-year history of success. The Benteler Group employs a total workforce of 30,000 employees at 170 locations in 38 countries. Benteler Steel/Tube, headquartered in Paderborn, Germany, specializes in manufacturing and processing of seamless hot-rolled steel tubes and seamless cold-drawn precision steel tubes. There are four Benteler Steel/Tube sales offices located in North America, including headquarters in Houston, Texas.