Most people don't think of welding and natural gas at the same time they think of wealth building.
These two elements (welding and natural gas) will soon converge into an economic power house for any entrepreneur with vision.
Find out why.
Why Welding? The metal shop in high school closed long ago - along with auto shop and wood shop.
For decades, most welders started out in high school metal shop - and now for two decades metal shop has been considered, "mental slop" by the elites who only see "intelligent pursuits" as those involving computers and other tech.
Sadly, this has caused a huge and growing shortage of welders and other trades.
Just as the powers that caused "computer class" to replace "metal shop" - the powers that rule the welding industry don't understand their own industry well enough to update the focus of welding.
This is because the welding game has changed.
"Tradition" can be a train wreck - and that is the case with welding education.
Welding education today is like a re-run of the movie, "Back To The Future.
" It is 1950 all over again when you step into a junior college welding class.
Hours and days are spent on book learning.
Hours and days are spent on learning techniques and processes the average welder will never use.
Yes, one or two things taught in structural welding classes are applicable in the job market - enough to get the average welder coming out of a year of more of education a job welding for $10 to $15.
Last time I checked you can make that much cleaning windows...
Where is the Entrepreneurial Opportunity in welding? Pipe welding covers a lot of ground - there is carbon steel pipe, aluminum pipe and stainless pipe.
Each category has a variety of types, sizes and applications.
Welding any and all of them produces excellent incomes.
Individuals can make $75,000 to $150,000 a year without a welding truck (called a rig).
Welders with their own rig are making up to $300,000 a year.
Welders who own 3 rigs and weld themselves while managing other welders can and do top $500,000 with a relatively small business organization.
Where does natural gas come into this? The United States has $178 Trillion in natural gas and oil on U.
S.
Federal Lands alone! We are not tapping that gas now - the vast majority of the wells which have recently caused the USA to become the largest producer of oil and gas on the globe are located on private lands.
The reserves of oil and gas on private lands is beyond belief - and no longer disputed.
We will be swimming in oil and gas for generations to come.
Did you think solar and wind would win the day? Much like propaganda in any country at any time in history, wind and solar is NOT what most people think.
The power production is minuscule.
When your neighbor gets solar on their house - you paid for a large portion of that system because of large federal and state subsidies.
Solar and wind (after all the noise about them) still make up less than 5% of all power production - and a very high price has been paid by all us for it.
On the contrary, oil gas operate in a pure, true market environment.
The oil and gas industry will not be shut down because the government "pulls the plug" on subsidies.
AND natural gas is a very low emission, low polluting energy source! My brother held 11 patents for co-generation technology in the 1980s.
He built a large business because the market was subsidized.
When the subsidies were stopped, the business stopped.
The same thing will soon happen for solar and wind.
Oil and gas produce huge amounts of energy and won't be replaced for 100 years.
Natural gas usage will increase dramatically in the coming years.
We will soon see over the road diesel trucks repowered with natural gas (for example).
Honda has made a natural gas Civic for many years.
Police cars, taxis and city buses are powered by natural gas right now.
Where will people fill up? There is a small but growing number of natural gas stations across America.
And many homes in America run on natural gas.
Filling stations which can be installed at residential locations are on the market now.
Would you like to fill up your car at home for $3? You can! The Russians are working on airplanes powered by natural gas.
The possibilities are endless - and many will be reality sooner than you think.
And yes, you could build a business just installing natural gas filling stations.
Conclusions: If you can think of a "dream industry" to work in, what would it be? If you want one that will have expotential growth over the next 20 years think oil and gas.
Unlike the growth of hamburger stands in the 60s, oil and gas jobs pay very well.
Walk into Midland Texas with no experience and get a job as a "roustabout" (a common laborer) and you'll make $40,000 to $50,000 - and that is the bottom of the ladder.
The best part about pipe and pipe welding: The oil and gas industry is the biggest employer of pipe welders.
The growth of natural gas utilization means enormous amounts of pipe must be welded.
The American Welding Society or AWS sets the standards for welding.
Way back in 2007 they said, "The average rig pipe welder in Alberta Canada makes $330,000 a year.
" I recently spoke to a welder who went one step further contracting repairs with a refinery in 2013.
He made $400,000 in 2013.
What is the bottom line? Welding and the oil (and particularly natural gas) present an exciting fast growing opportunity that can make anyone with some moxy and get up go rich in the coming years - regardless of the condition of the rest of the economy.
Is that why North Dakota has 2.
6% unemployment? Did you know Midland, TX has 2% unemployment? Did you know that 5% unemployment is considered "Full Employment" because 5% of the work force should not be working? These numbers are stunning - they are incredible.
The USA must go through another deep recession.
to wash out the debt that is keeping the general economy down.
Many areas of business we now think of as "bullet proof" will shrink or disappear.
The DOW will probably sink to 5,000 by 2016 or 2017 - but naturals gas will stay strong which means pipe welding jobs will be plentiful, even during the next recession.
What should you do next?