Learning factory welding5/17/2023 ![]() ![]() Knowing all that I had gone through, they made me push for my best.” “If anyone needed any help with welding tips or anything like that, they were there for you. “The Workforce Solutions classes I already took were well-taught,” he said. The majority of his tuition costs have been covered by Workforce Financial Assistance (FANTIC) funding, as well as a scholarship from the Laurel Ridge Educational Foundation thanks to the generosity of the Wise Foundation. For now, he does deliveries for a parts store.Īnd, DeForest is interested in taking more workforce classes, possibly HVAC, plumbing or electrical. “I already have all of the equipment.”Īdditionally, DeForest would like to take his experiences and teach workplace safety. “I definitely want to start my own company,” said DeForest. While there are certain maintenance jobs that are made more difficult by his missing digits, “I still enjoy it.” Undeterred, DeForest has since returned to Workforce Solutions to do more welding education, becoming certified in mig welding. On his left hand, he lost his middle finger to his second knuckle and his index finger down to the first knuckle. DeForest has since had more surgeries and physical therapy. ![]() While he was checking the blade’s transmission, a coworker turned on the fan and DeForest’s hand got stuck between the blade and the pulley.ĭeForest was told he came within minutes of bleeding to death. He shut the fan off, pulled the cover off and tightened the belt. “I had a bad feeling, but I was like, I’m going to go do it anyhow,” DeForest remembered. In June 2020, nearly a year into his job at the factory, a manager told DeForest a fan wasn’t working on the roof. Wanting to earn more money, DeForest began working at a factory in Culpeper doing production welding and later maintenance work. After receiving his certification, he was hired to work in Vint Hill doing mig welding. ![]() “He said, ‘Well, that’s pretty good for your first time.’”ĭeForest was homeschooled for the remainder of high school and enrolled in Workforce Solutions after graduating. “The teacher said, ‘Is this your first time?’” DeForest recalled. He learned he was a natural when he first picked up a welder in his ninth-grade shop class. Blake DeForest’s great-great-grandfather, William Tripp, was a welder and blacksmith. ![]()
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