Sponsored by ExxonMobil
Lena Toups was a middle-aged restaurant cook for over a decade, and even after moving on to work in a customer service call center, she longed for something different. It took a toll on her mental health. Living paycheck to paycheck her entire working life—struggling to make ends meet every month and worrying about unexpected repair bills—it was all too much. “I just became accustomed to the anxiety,” Toups says. “I was convinced that this was just how my life was always going to be until my husband’s friend mentioned the North Baton Rouge Industrial Training Initiative (NBRITI) at Baton Rouge Community College (BRCC).” So with no industrial knowledge, experience, or anything left to lose, she applied.
During enrollment process interviews, naturally Toups had to choose a trade to study. “I had no idea what any trade really did on a day-to-day basis, so I flipped a coin and chose pipefitter,” Toups laughs. “Thankfully, after a series of tests and interviews it became clear that my strengths would be better suited for millwright.”
The internship at ExxonMobil taught Toups more than just how to work on pumps. It provided her the opportunity to learn beyond the classroom at BRCC. “It is still very surreal to me, that I am advancing to apprentice at ExxonMobil,” Toups says. “It’s hard to believe, but I did it! I’ve made it this far, I have to keep going, to keep asking questions. I have to keep learning.” Since her internship with ExxonMobil began six months ago, Toups has excelled in her work and continued to learn. Toups is now a full time apprentice machinist in the central services department at the ExxonMobil Refinery.
According to the American Petroleum Institute, nearly 1.9 million job opportunities are projected in the oil and natural gas and petrochemical industries through 2035.
Women and minority workers represent a critically vital and available talent pool to help meet the demands of the projected growth and expansion. A vast opportunity exists for the oil and natural gas industry to attract, retain, and develop lifelong careers for women and minorities. Since 2012, ExxonMobil has been leading a collaboration between industry partners, contractor firms and BRCC. Assisting its neighbors in getting the skills they need to compete and excel in industrial jobs, the North Baton Rouge Industrial Training Initiative was designed to help residents who may not have access to technical or job skills training in the northern part of the parish. The program was carefully designed to be a fair and easy process empowering its students to be accountable for their own success.
Kia Brown was a contractor, struggling to find consistent work. She noticed a post on her social feed about NBRITI and enrolled at BRCC with plans to just graduate in an electrical trade, then go back to school for instrumentation. The internship opportunity presented itself at the perfect time, right before graduation. “Working in the refinery while I was in school put everything in a new perspective,” Brown says. “I was able to see, first-hand, how the business operates from the electrical and instrumentation side of things. Graduating from this program helped me get a foot in the door at my ideal job and jumpstart my path to success.”
The NBRITI program and her internship at ExxonMobil has given Brown a renewed dedication and love for her craft. “I learn so much working in the field getting hands-on experience in real life scenarios that would have otherwise just been examples in a book.” The thought of taking on a new trade may seem intimidating, but Brown assures anyone considering the NBRITI program that the end result is totally worth the time, patience, motivation, and hard work it takes to get there. Brown is grateful for the NBRITI program and says her experience working as an intern has been nothing short of amazing.
Kia Brown is now an instrument tech apprentice at the Baton Rouge Refinery. She joined ExxonMobil as an intern and is proud to have recently advanced to a full-time employee.
Over the course of the one-year training, the NBRITI program goes further to include a life skills component along with a financial management program. This sort of consistent coaching and feedback produces graduates better prepared to excel in the industry. This translates to students earning their credentials in electrical, millwright, pipefitting or welding along with safety, time management, housekeeping and other key performance areas that contribute to their overall growth and career success. Instructors monitor students’ daily timeliness, safety, use of hand tools, use of PPE, housekeeping, and teamwork.
The past five cohorts have graduated more than 330 students into a stable and essential workforce.
• There are currently 20+ contractor partners involved with the NBRITI, and the majority of the program’s graduates obtain initial employment with contractor partners, several of whom have maintained this employment at ExxonMobil or other area industrial facilities.
• Under ExxonMobil Baton Rouge Refinery Manager Gloria Moncada’s leadership, the fifth cohort expanded craft career tracks to include millwright certification so ExxonMobil can now hire graduates directly.
• For more information on the North Baton Rouge Industrial Training Initiative, visit mybrcc.edu/nbriti.
