Nunez Heavy Equipment Program Offers Students 14 Industry Certifications

Fourteen industry certifications are available to students who complete Nunez Community College’s Heavy Equipment program this spring.  

Running Feb. 13-March 31, the eight-week course requires students to complete 40 hours of classroom and hands-on instruction each week. The course cost is $3,295, but grant funding is available to mitigate the cost to students.  

Applicants must possess a valid U.S. driver’s license and must pass a background check and substance abuse screening.  

More information can be found at Nunez.edu/workforce. Interested students may also contact Nunez Workforce Director Brian Gibson at bgibson@nunez.edu. 

Nunez’s very first cohort of five Heavy Equipment students completed the program on December 21 with a ceremony in the Kane Building on the Nunez campus in Chalmette. Course instructor Dennis DiLorenzo of STC Inc., summed up the completers’ newly-earned employability in just a couple of short sentences. 

Five students completed Nunez Community College’s first Heavy Equipment course on Dec. 21 on the Nunez campus. Each completer earned 14 industry certifications. Pictured from left are course instructor Dennis DiLorenzo of STC Inc., course instructor James Beebe of STC Inc., completers Benjamin Thrower of Chalmette, Roy Ragan Jr. of Violet, Rosalind Powell of Pearl River, Troydell Miller of Chalmette, Kendall Hills of Violet, Nunez Associate Vice Chancellor for Education, Training and Student Success Lenny Unbehagen, Venture Global Senior Manager of Training Charlie Burt, and Nunez Workforce Director Brian Gibson. The next Heavy Equipment course begins on Feb. 13.

“These are nationally recognized certifications. So when you show up to an interview, you have a lot to offer,” he told the graduates. “A lot of people on a construction site have nowhere near the amount of certifications.” 

Each student who completes the eight-week course will receive the following certifications: 

  • NCCER – Core Construction Skills 
  • NCCER – Heavy Equipment Level 1 
  • OSHA 10 – Construction  
  • MSHA – New Miner  
  • American Heart Association – CPR/First Aid/AED 
  • Aerial Manlift – Scissor Lift 
  • Basic Rigging 
  • 8-Hour Confined Space Entry 
  • Fall Protection 
  • Field Safety Orientation Training 
  • Forklift Operation – Straight Mast and Extended (2) 
  • HAZWOPER 
  • Incipient Firefighting – Fire Safety (2) 
  • Trenching & Excavation 

Nunez is also registering students for its eight-week Mini-Session B term, which begins March 16 and offers full-credit, transferable courses in half the time of a normal term. More than 60 Mini-Session B courses can be viewed at Nunez.edu/schedule.

generac-home-standby-generator-banners