Participants:
MERRILL Interviewee: Jonah Loomis, Level III Welder
Z93 Interviewers: Matt Bingham, Adam Shilling
Z93: Alright, joining us in studio is Jonah Loomis. He is a MERRILL Institute graduate, a Level Three Welder, and station leader with MERRILL Technologies Group. Good morning, Jonah. Thanks for joining us.
Jonah Loomis: Morning. Glad to be here.
Z93: Now, we’ve been talking a lot about MERRILL Technologies Group recently because MERRILL is hiring. They’re looking for machinists, and welders, and fabricators. Jonah, you’re now a what a Level III Welder. Let’s start at the beginning. What led you to become a Welder in the first place?
Jonah Loomis: Well, you know I started on a dairy farm when I was younger—always working with my hands. And I got my hands on a welder one day, and they told me to fix a gate. That’s kind of where it started. So, I wanted to learn more about it, and I always seen the infomercials about the MERRILL Institute on the radio.
Z93: Alright, so you heard the ad, and you thought, okay that might be an opportunity.
Jonah Loomis: Yeah, so anyways, I was just out of high school at that point. I went through the program and man the teachers there; they know a lot. And it’s hands-on will teach anybody you know really well. You can’t beat being hands-on learning something versus sitting in a classroom. You get to work on all the materials, all the processes, it’s really good.
Z93: So the program then is about what a twelve-week program before you get your certification? Your Level I Welder.
Jonah Loomis: Yeah, it’s a twelve-week program. They go through all the processes from flux core to hard wire to tig to stick. You know you’re learning all sorts of processes. And at the end, you know you get your certification. You’re taking a test for each one, and that approves you to get your AWS certification.
Z93: So, what leads you from being, I know very little about welding, and I’m going to learn a lot probably from you.
Z93: The man has never welded anything in his life.
Z93: Not a single thing.
Z93: So, you start Level I, you’re out of the program, you’re a Level I Welder, now you’re a level III. What goes into becoming a Level III Welder?
Jonah Loomis: Uh, it’s a lot about what jobs you work on. The better you do, the more opportunities you’re going to get. As long as you’ve got a good head on your shoulders, you’re going to do great there. They appreciate hard workers, and if you work hard and just you know absorb everything, they give you all the information. You know you’ll take tests for certain jobs before you can weld on them. And you know, once you get that under your belt, that’s a certification, and you know you get one certification. It’ll grow to alright now I got good with that process. I’m going to try this process. And you know you get to practice and get ready for it. And then you get out on the job. Every job you do if you do a good job, you know you’re moving your way up.
Z93: Alright, Jonah, well, tell me if, if, uh, somebody’s considering maybe applying and going to the MERRILL Institute, maybe they want to get into welding, what would you tell that person?
Jonah Loomis: I would tell that person go for it. You know, you’re never you’re not going to be disappointed. You’re going to learn a lot, there are some really good teachers there. They’ll give you the information you need to know.
Z93: Jonah Loomis, MERRILL Technologies Group, we appreciate you taking a few minutes and talking with us today.
Jonah Loomis: Thank you.