Sparking a new future: Welding school helps those with troubled pasts

Long-time contractor and self-proclaimed “Metal Man” Greg Gilbert celebrated five years of sobriety by quitting his job and opening a Welding School. Months after opening day, he found himself alone in the warehouse suite that put him $100,000 in debt, kneeling and asking God if he had blown it again.

That night, he said, he changed what he prayed for.

“At first, my prayer was, ‘God, just give me one or two students,” said Gilbert, 45. “Then, I changed it to ‘prepare the hearts of my students.’ And they haven’t stopped coming since.”

‘It doesn’t make sense that I have this place’

The Welding School of Nevada, located in Henderson, has graduated nearly 20 students since December. Gilbert said the ten-week program provides students with affordable education and various structural welding certifications. Classes also teach the 10-hour Occupational Safety and Health Administration workplace safety course and forklift operation. They offer sessions in the morning, afternoon, and evening to ensure no more than four students are in each class.

Gilbert added that roughly one-third of his students come from Casa Grande, a transitional housing center for non-violent offenders. They qualify for funding and can attend classes for free. The Las Vegas facility, which helps provide residents with work and long-term housing opportunities, also houses parolees and probation violators.

“When you consider where I’ve been, it doesn’t make sense that I have this place. It doesn’t even make sense that I am alive,” Gilbert said. “It’s fitting they started coming from Casa Grande because that is the exact person I wanted to teach and minister to. I could have been any one of those guys.”

Staying clean

In high school, Gilbert said he got yelled at for drawing joints and portraits of Charles Manson during art class, so he dropped out. By 25, he was a “fully-functioning” addict and alcoholic who had moved from Indiana to Sin City hoping to get his daughters back after a failed marriage, he said. After a few contracting jobs in Vegas, he started a sometimes precarious mobile fabrication business. At 39, he began spending nights at Celebrate Recovery, a Christian rehabilitation program. In the beginning, he said, he sat there numb, distracted by the thought of binge drinking when he left.

But one night, he didn’t. Instead, he came home, and while looking at family photos, Gilbert realized he could not tell birthdays from Christmases. “And I lost it — I was just a blubbering mess,” Gilbert said. “And that’s the day I just said, God, I don’t know what I’m doing, but I can’t do it my way anymore.”

For Gilbert, the “other way” meant staying clean and pouring into others. Given his almost thirty years of experience in the industry, he felt compelled to start teaching again.

“When I was in school, I didn’t like the ratios. There would be 14 students and only one instructor,” Gilbert said. “Even working in different shops, I’d always have somebody in the booth across who finished school but was not job-ready. Welding is one of those industries where there is always something to learn or a certificate to earn.”

Joining the workforce

According to the American Welding Society, a national non-profit that supports shops through grants and scholarships, the industry will need 330,000 new welders by 2028. As of this year, the organization said, there are roughly 770,000 welders across the country. Jeff Davis, an AWS representative for district 21, which includes Arizona, Hawaii, and parts of California and Nevada, said that Vegas can be a “feast or famine area” for welders.

Davis, who has worked as a welder for 48 years, added that entering the workforce with extensive training and certifications is crucial.

“I like what Greg is doing,” Davis said. “He has a plethora of experience, and that’s what these students need. Young men and young ladies make mistakes, yeah? This is an industry that lets them redeem themselves.”

After graduation, alumni from the Welding School of Nevada have — among other things — joined unions and created stages for the high-profile internet personality Mr. Beast, who filmed his new reality show at Allegiant Stadium in July. Some have even become instructors themselves. Raven Berrian, 21, was one of Gilbert’s first students, and now she teaches the morning and afternoon classes. One day, she wants to commission metal sculptures.

“Greg makes this place feel like home,” Berrian said. “After high school, I tried working in customer service and distribution but never felt I belonged. It feels safe here.”

Nowadays, Gilbert said his job primarily consists of finding funding, mental health and spiritual resources for his students as they go through the program. This often involves making calls when a Casa Grande resident misses their bus home or holding off on paperwork to share his favorite Scripture with a new student. He said the latter will always be his favorite part of the job.

Contact Akiya Dillon at adillon@reviewjournal.com