Inmates celebrated at welding program graduation

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) - On Friday, inmates and their families gathered at the campus of Southeast Technical College to celebrate their graduation from the welding program.

So often, work skills are credited as the reason for success among inmates who leave the prison system, and that is exactly what inmates gain through the Southeast Tech welding program.

Carson Maunu, a former inmate and graduate of the welding program, says the opportunity gave him some direction.

“Without this program, I probably wouldn’t have started at a welding place, I wouldn’t have applied. I had never welded before any of this. Because of that, all that stuff is in my resume, get the certificate, get my foot in the door, and then I just kept learning more and more from there,” Maunu said.

Maunu now works as a project manager for Egger Steel; thanks to the skills he picked up in this one-semester program.

“I wasn’t able to get into the first one because I had too much time left, but the second one, I was able to get in there. And it was just something positive to do; at least I had that tool under my belt,” Maunu said.

Over 80 people have graduated since the program began in 2022. These men and women are filling jobs in a market that is glad to have them.

“It’s a very easy sell when you can bring someone in and teach them about welding, a little about assembly and fabrication, and get them out into the industry, so it’s easy for them to be employed,” Jason Merritt, Southeast Tech Dean of Curriculum and Instruction, Trades Program, said.

The program is made possible thanks to a collaboration with not only the Department of Corrections, but the Department of Labor as well, which helps fund the program through the QUEST Grant, a product of the Workforce Innovation Opportunity Act. The Department of Labor also works with the inmates to ensure they have a job.

“For reentry, as my job entails. A good release plan is the gold standard for reentry. So as long as they have a great place to live, employment, they’re dealing with their basic needs. These guys have a chance at success,” Scott Day, Department of Corrections Reentry Program Manager, said.

Class sizes usually range from 7 to 12 people, depending on the semester. This class is a group of 7 people, and all 7 are lined up for jobs after their release.