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Creating Jobs and Wealth in Distressed Michigan Communities
2016: Women Who Weld, Part II
Co-Learning Plan - 2016
Authors: Samantha Farr, Women Who Weld
Summary
Access to free or low-cost training programs that teach people skills needed for jobs that offer sustainable wages is critical for both human and economic development in Detroit. Farr provided free training in welding, career development, and communication skills, and hired a co-instructor, Ralph Taylor, to assist with training in Women Who Weld’s second round of funding. Farr developed a curriculum and replicable framework for an intensive welding training program that produced a direct economic benefit to the community. Please reference Women Who Weld’s Program Overview for information on the problems facing the welding industry, Women Who Weld’s solutions to addressing these problems, and the results of their efforts in and around Detroit.
In 2014 Samantha Farr began a student-led, faculty-guided project to initiate a welding program for homeless, unemployed or underemployed women living in Detroit. Today Women Who Weld offers a subsidized 6-Week Intensive Welding Training Program to teach MIG welding and how to operate various metalworking tools and machines.
In 2016 Ms. Farr developed a Co-Learning Plan to share the Women Who Weld program with the REI Network as of today has secured employment in the welding industry for over 100 women. In 2017, REI staff and the CP designated Ms. Farr an Innovation Fellow which allowed her to expand her program and take it on the road to other states, including California. In late 2017 Ms. Farr and Ms. Bruen earned the University Economic Development Association (UEDA) Award of Excellence for Best Talent Development Program.
Samantha Farr and Women Who Weld was featured in InStyle's article, "The Badass 50: Meet the Women Who Are Changing the World."
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Author Information
Samantha Farr, Women Who Weld
Samantha Farr has been a welder for 3 years and created Women Who Weld in 2014 with the help of an REI grant. Samantha holds a Master in Urban Planning from the University of Michigan and is the Founder of Farr Side a Planning & Community and Economic Development firm in Detroit.
Report removed at author's request; please contact rei@msu.edu for a copy.