CB Tech gets $15,000 gift to buy welding simulator
Charles H. Featherstone/Columbia Basin Herald Brian Meiners, plant manager for Basic American Foods in Moses Lake and former CB Tech instructor, gave CB Tech a $15,000 donation Wednesday on behalf of Basic American Foods.
MOSES LAKE — The Columbia Basin Technical Skills Center has received at $15,000 donation to help the school purchase a virtual welding simulator.
Brian Meiners, a former engineering teacher at CB Tech and the current manager of Basic American Foods’ Moses Lake plant, was on hand Wednesday to give the donation to CB Tech.
“So, what are we here for today?” Meiners said during an assembly of CB Tech students at noon. “Every year, the company gives back to the community in which we operate, and this year CB Tech applied for a grant to purchase a virtual welding simulator.”
The simulator would allow students to practice welding in a virtual world, and would thus save the school money in supplies and materials.
“This is so CB Tech can help you become the next generation of manufacturing,” Meiners said.
Chad Utter, a manufacturing instructor and the dean of students at CB Tech, said the simulator is priced at about $22,000. Along with the gift from Basic American Foods, Utter said WorkSource is promising around $5,000 in exchange for CB Tech’s assistance with training, and the Moses Lake School District has pledged to cover the rest.
“We didn’t know about this money being available,” Utter said. “(Meiners) came to us, said we have some money, you should apply. And so we did.”
Meiners said he didn’t even remember about the company giving program until someone at Basic American Foods’ corporate office asked him, “don’t you have anything for Moses Lake?”
“There’s always a need at CB Tech,” he added.
Basic American Foods is a Walnut Creek, Calif., based food processor that specializes in dehydrated potatoes and beans, and is a major supplier to fast-food outlets like KFC and Taco Del Mar.
“What we make is shelf-stable,” Meiners told students. “What that means is it lasts for months, you add water, you have a great meal or a side to a meal.”
“We’re working on Taco Bell,” he added. “We’re almost there.”
Charles H. Featherstone can be reached via email at countygvt@columbiabasinherald.com.