The third iteration of Turlock Irrigation District’s innovative skills program is coming to end, and host of local men and women will walk away with a new appreciation for the work performed by the local utility.

The TID program offers six weeks of free instruction in a series of skills that are commonly used by TID employees … and a toe in the water for those seeking jobs in a specialized trade.

“This is all about exposing people to different jobs and different area of the trades that they can actually be successful in, rather than feeling like they have to go to college,” said Equipment Operations and Pest Control Division Manager Matt Kincanon. “The program covers six total sections from every division of our company – welding, concrete work, crane operations, electrical operations, etc. – and we show them all the useful skills we use around here.”

While pursuing a college degree is the most common way to ensure increased employment opportunities, college isn’t for all. Not everybody has the time, inclination, or resources to pursue a degree or certifications.

“We want to provide another pathway besides the strict college pathway,” said TID Communications Manager Constance Anderson. “Someone could be interested in the trades but might not know what opportunities are available to them. This gives them brief snippets of a lot of different opportunities that are available; not just at TID, but throughout our region.

“And as one of the larger employers in the area, TID wants to contribute to the community by offering this program.”

The secret ingredient of the program is the TID employees who volunteer to teach the classes.

“I’ve been fortunate to see these young folks come through and get jobs in the industry – a couple of them here at TID, if I’m not mistaken,” said Modesto resident Michael Gray, a fleet equipment technician at TID for 12 years who has volunteered since the program’s inception in 2024. “This is a great promotion of what TID does and a great asset to community. There’s so much hidden talent out there and they don’t all have the chance to see available out there. I’m a big fan of this program.”

Nathan Honnette, a journey layout and fabrication welder with TID for the past eight years, said he believes there’s a waning interest in the trades, and programs like TID’s expose a greater number to these types of careers.

“It’s really rewarding to share our knowledge,” said Honnette. “Programs like this didn’t exist when I graduated from Denair High in 2006.

“Welding is a dying trade, and here I came from – I was at my previous job for 13 years – you progressively saw the younger generation not getting into the trades. It’s getting harder to find folks who want to do this work. But this is our third time doing this and it’s the biggest class we’ve had. It’s great.”

Daniela Gonzalez, a 20-year-old Patterson resident, is thankful the program exists.

“I’m interested in this program because a lot of us have some experience, whether that’s school or real-world, but most places I’ve applied want all want two to three, or even five to 10 years of experience,” said Gonzalez. “And being 18 to 22, 23 years old, it’s impossible to have that. Employers will take you a little more seriously when they know you have training from a well-known place like TID.”

Eighteen-year-old Hilmar resident Andre Leonardes, who is more than 6 feet tall and 200 pounds, said he’s impressed by the number of career opportunities at TID and the ability to work your way up the ladder. During one training session, he crawled deep into a 24-inch pipe – something not everybody is comfortable doing.

“I didn’t even know that was a thing until I experienced it,” said Leonardes. “It was super cool. I’m a bit of a bigger guy, but I was able to get in there.”

Leonardes said he’d relish the opportunity to work for TID.

“I just like how there’s so much opportunity and so much to be learned,” Leonardes said. “It’s amazing.”

The only drawback to TID’s skills program? It’s almost too popular. Hundreds of applications were received this summer for less than 20 spots. But TID has a Career Spotlight Series for those who are interested in learning more about its career paths.

“It’s a series two-minute videos where we take different folks from around the district, who play different roles for us, and they talk about what their position is, what it entails, and the characteristics and skills needed to be successful in that role,” said Anderson. “We were also able to turn that into a speaker series, where we worked with Turlock and Pitman high schools and sent some of these same employees out into the schools to talk during their enrichment periods.”

Oakdale’s Daniel Gonser, who has been with TID for nearly 15 years and is now the Fleet and Fabrication Division Manager, is another who volunteers his time. He grew up in Tracy, tinkering on small engines in the garage.

“Nowadays, nobody’s in their garage working on their own cars,” said Gonser. “Nobody’s out their tinkering. As a kid, I had a go-cart and that engine was torn apart every couple of months. But kids today aren’t getting that kind of exposure. Hopefully, this is something that piques their interest and they can pursue it further.”