Welding a Future Together 

Matthew Styron just sealed his future by completing his welding certification. Styron became interested in welding after he went to his grandfather’s shop and thought it was interesting. “It seemed cool and fun,” he said. “And it pays very good,” he added jokingly.   

Styron continued his newfound interest in welding and eventually decided to get certified in order to get harder jobs that pay more money. In order to get certified, he became a welding apprentice. During his apprenticeship, he learned “all the basic ways to weld and how to weld on different types of things like pipes and gas lines.”  

Then, he had to complete a test which included a written portion and a bend test. The bend test is where Styron must weld two pieces of steel together and then place the steel under 275 tons of pressure. After passing the tests, he’s hoping to eventually weld active pipelines as a contractor.