Sponsored by ExxonMobil
Brittany Robinson was attending Baton Rouge Community College in 2013 when she had a family event and didn’t have childcare for her son forcing her to drop out. Five years later, she saw an advertisement on social media for the free North Baton Rouge Industrial Training Initiative (NBRITI) spearheaded by ExxonMobil. After graduating from NBRITI in 2019, she is now an electrical apprentice at ExxonMobil’s Baton Rouge Refinery. Her son cheered for her as she walked across the stage to receive her diploma.
“I always wanted to jump into an electrical career and follow in the footsteps of my dad, who is an electrician,” Robinson says. “The NBRITI program gave me a great opportunity to advance my career. At the time, I wasn’t thinking about going back to college, but I’m so glad and thankful that it worked out the way it did.”
The successful job training initiative spearheaded by ExxonMobil and supported by more than 30 contractor firms has graduated nearly 500 skilled workers since 2012. More than 90 percent of graduates are employed in industry with many working for the firms who are part of the initiative.
“The success of the North Baton Rouge Industrial Training Initiative (NBRITI) is not only helping to meet our area’s demand for a skilled workforce, but also changing the lives of its graduates, who have opportunities for life-long careers and future educational training,” said ExxonMobil Baton Rouge Workforce Development Manager Baraynia Robillard.
ExxonMobil Machinery Apprentice Kevin Turner was working as a mechanic in 2018 when he heard about NBRITI from a co-worker. “Someone told me if you could work on a car, you could be a millwright or a machinist,” he says. “Working in industry is different than working on commissions and different than working outside – the lifestyle, the salary.”
While it was difficult to open a schoolbook and study for a test rather than earn overtime hours at his mechanic job, the end result was well worth it, says Turner, who currently works as a machinery apprentice for ExxonMobil. “I had a great support system and just had faith that if I put in the work, it would pay out in the long run. Things in life that you want, typically they don’t come easy,” he says.
NBRITI provides craft training in electrical, instrumentation, millwright, pipefitting and welding at no cost to accepted students. For one year, students attend classes three nights per week at Baton Rouge Community College’s North Acadian campus. By offering evening classes, participants can work full-time jobs during the day.
“I’m appreciative that the Baton Rouge Community College instructors and our NBRITI contractor mentors take ownership for not only teaching students the skills they need to succeed, but also guiding them in preparation for an industrial career,” says Robillard.
Students learn through fast-tracked classroom and hands-on training, which also includes life skills and workforce preparation. Graduates earn nationally recognized credentials from the National Center for Construction Education and Research and welding graduates finish with American Welding Society certifications.
The program works to place all students in full-time positions in their respective fields upon graduation. An informational open house is scheduled for Wednesday, Aug. 16 at 5 p.m. For more information, visit mybrcc.edu/nbriti.
