Shell & Bellingham Technical College Create Living Wage Careers

Creating Living Wage Careers: A Partnership with Shell Puget Sound Refinery & Bellingham Technical College

Duration: 3:41

Description:   

Shell’s Puget Sound Refinery and Bellingham Technical College (BTC) have a strong partnership that focuses on creating living wage careers for numerous residents in Western Washington through scholarships, grants, process technology program advisory panels, mentoring, internships and more. Shell is committed to proudly fueling life in the Pacific Northwest for its employees, contractors and community members, and the refinery’s partnership with BTC helps make this a reality.

[Background Music]

Driving, motivating Sound of Shell background music plays

[Text]

Creating Living Wage Careers: A Partnership with Shell Puget Sound Refinery & Bellingham Technical College (BTC)

[Interview]

Dustin Henry            

HR Manager, Shell Puget Sound Refinery

At Shell, we're looking for a diverse group of employees, people that will bring in new ideas and challenge us to get better. We here at the Puget Sound Refinery recognize that we have a generation of individuals who will potentially be retiring in the next several years, so it's important to us that we start to identify and understand where that next generation of talent's gonna come from.

[Video]

Bellingham Technical College students engage during a class.

 

[Interview]

Dustin Henry            

HR Manager, Shell Puget Sound Refinery

And it's this workforce that's going to help us thrive through the energy transition. Bellingham Technical College plays a critical role, and it's vital to the success of this refinery.

[Interview]

Scott Cory                

Process Technology Instructor, Bellingham Technical College

Shell...they've been a tremendous supporter of the process technology program here over many years.

[Video]

BTC Process Technology Students mingle with Shell Puget Sound Refinery personnel at Energy Careers Prep Night.  This event is an opportunity to network with professionals in the energy industry, and learn about jobs in the industry from those who perform them.

[Interview]

Scott Cory                

Process Technology Instructor, Bellingham Technical College

This program exists to support the energy industry, and having a partner like Shell benefits us, and it provides a pipeline for potential employees for them, um, and provides jobs for our students. And at the end of the day, that's why people come back to Technical College, because they see this as a great opportunity to get into an industry that can provide them a living wage.

[Video]

Shell Puget Sound Refinery operator Alyssa Willis mingles with attendees at Energy Careers Prep Night.

 

[Interview]

Alyssa Willis            

Operator, Shell Puget Sound Refinery

Having my education at BTC really gave me a footing for when I came into the refinery. I understood going into the job how to look at a unit and sort of break it down into pieces.

[Video]

Alyssa Willis inspects areas of the refinery.

 

[Interview]

Alyssa Willis            

Operator, Shell Puget Sound Refinery

It allowed me to take what I knew from the program and turn it into something that I could actually apply out here. I decided to work for Shell because they had a significant hand in the process technology program.

 

[Video]

Alyssa Willis walks the Puget Sound Refinery, inspecting safety measures along the way.

 

[Interview]

Scott Cory                

Process Technology Instructor, Bellingham Technical College

Shell engages with the program in many, many levels. They offer scholarships, internships for the students to let them get out and actually work in the field.

[Video]

BTC Process Technology Students review procedures in the classroom.

 

[Interview]

Scott Cory                

Process Technology Instructor, Bellingham Technical College

They provide technical speakers to our classes. The kind of list goes on. The advisers from Shell that are on our advisory board help us shape the program. The industry changes.

[Video]

Shell Puget Sound representatives share their experience with students and potential recruits during presentation at Energy Careers Prep Night.

 

[Interview]

Scott Cory                

Process Technology Instructor, Bellingham Technical College

The program needs to keep up with those changes. Shell's a leader when it comes to managing change.

 

[Interview]

Todd Ramsay            

Learning Advisor, Shell Puget Sound Refinery

I serve on the Bellingham Tech advisory board representing Shell. The partnership between Shell and Bellingham Tech is, I believe, a very strong one. It's based on mutual respect. And I think it really reflects what Shell is trying to do in the community.

[Interview]

Alyssa Willis            

Operator, Shell Puget Sound Refinery

When I was in the process technology program, we should have Shell career nights, and I got to network with some of the people inside the industry. It is so cool being able to go back and be what they were to me to someone like myself in the program.

[Video]

Alyssa Willis, on-stage, shares some of her career experience with current Bellingham Technical College students.

 

[Interview]

Alyssa Willis            

Operator, Shell Puget Sound Refinery

It feels surreal sometimes that I am in this position and I get to do those sorts of things.

[Interview]

Scott Cory                

Process Technology Instructor, Bellingham Technical College

The feedback I get from my students about Shell is, they are very much a preferred employer, and that really comes down to their engagement in the program.

[Video]

Bellingham Technical College students monitor and discuss refinery operations screens.

 

[Interview]

Scott Cory                

Process Technology Instructor, Bellingham Technical College

So many of our students come from backgrounds where they're not making what they feel is a living wage. They understand what Shell has to offer, and they see that as a way to better their life for themselves and their families.

[Interview]

Todd Ramsay            

Learning Advisor, Shell Puget Sound Refinery

Working in the energy industry provides a lot of opportunity. The jobs that're out there will be a good job, it'll be a technical job. They pay well, and they're going to be here for a long time.

[Video]

Alyssa Willis completes reports and readings inside the Shell Puget Sound Refinery. 

 

[Interview]

Alyssa Willis            

Operator, Shell Puget Sound Refinery

A job at Shell is definitely a career. There is so much that you can do here. There're so many different avenues that you can take, so many different things that you can learn, special projects to get involved with. It's changing all the time, so it's all really cool and you never get bored.

[Video]

Bellingham Technical College students gather around Scott Cory during classroom instruction.

 

[Interview]

Dustin Henry            

HR Manager, Shell Puget Sound Refinery

This is a fantastic and fascinating time to enter into this industry. This is the opportunity to be a part of change. Our purpose here at Puget Sound Refinery is to proudly fuel life in the Pacific Northwest, and that's for years and generations to come. If you want to be a part of sustaining life here in the region, Puget Sound Refinery is a great place to do that.

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