We Are Building the Community One Trades Person at a Time

By Tom Macik, Program Director, Industrial Workforce Program

The Industrial Workforce Program (IWP) is excited to participate in this year’s Economic Development Week, The Gallup Brick Road – There’s No Place Like Gallup and to sponsor the opening dinner on May 6th in the McKinley County Courthouse Annex. 

In 2021 the Southwest Indian Foundation (SWIF) took over the operation of the Industrial Workforce Program. IWP was originally started by the Greater Gallup Economic Development Corporation in 2019 and was recently the recipient of a National Award from the International Economic Development Council for “Best Use of Federal Economic Development Resources”. 

IWP is a community development project which focuses on training residents of the Greater Gallup area in job skills and professional development.  We understand that it takes both qualities to succeed in the workplace and maintain a meaningful career. We train our students in areas such as heavy equipment operations, residential construction, welding, OSHA safety practices, and more. Our program includes classroom instruction through the National Center for Construction Education and Research curriculum as well as hands on job-site experience. Since its conception in 1968, SWIF has built more than 300 residential houses. Our expertise and involvement in the trades allow us to provide quality training to our students and prepare them to be successful in their future careers. Additionally, we partner with local businesses such as Murphy Builders and Horizon Enterprises and invite our partners to use their subject matter expertise to provide valuable input to the program curriculum and development. These partnerships allow IWP to provide the most relevant workers to the community and give students the chance to demonstrate their value to local businesses and gain quality employment.

Our students also receive training in professional development; leadership skills, group discussion, critical thinking, financial literacy, and application and interview skills are just some of the professional skills that IWP teaches. To be a reliable professional who delivers quality work requires that a person is functional in all aspects of their lives, which means you need to be healthy and financially stable, have a wholesome family life, and a plan for the future. We strive to teach our students the importance and power of these qualities and to help them take ownership and implement them in their own lives.

IWP works to better the lives of our individual students by enhancing their job skills and developing their professional and personal character, while also providing relevant workers to the community. We are actively working to grow this program to facilitate larger classes and provide a broader range of job training.  We have seen tangible results that this program provides value to the individual students and to the Greater Gallup community. For more detailed information regarding the program, or to apply or partner with us, please visit https://www.industrialworkforceprogram.com/.

IWP is hosting an Industrial Workforce Program Open House on May 9th at 10 a.m. at our construction warehouse, 209 Day Street Gallup, NM. Interested parties are invited to come learn about IWP and see what we can do for you!