Meta Investment Helps NOCC Build Construction Workforce

Meta Investment Helps NOCC Build Construction Workforce. Photo provided by NOCC. NEW ORLEANS — Just months after graduating from New Orleans Career Center’s (NOCC) adult welding program, 23-year-old Kearries Cooper found himself working 100 feet above the ground, installing steel at Meta’s new data center in Richland Parish, Louisiana. For Cooper, who had spent four years working in restaurants while supporting his young family, the opportunity marked a significant change in his career and financial future.

Cooper’s savings have grown, his family has taken their first cruise, and their financial circumstances have improved.

Cooper represents a new generation of skilled workers entering Louisiana’s construction industry at a critical moment. Major industrial and infrastructure projects are expected to require more than 20,000 construction workers at peak demand later this decade, just as anticipated retirements accelerate the need to replenish the skilled trades workforce.

Meta’s Richland Parish data center illustrates the scale of that demand. The company has committed more than $50 billion to the project, which is expected to support approximately 7,500 construction jobs at peak construction. Recognizing the need for skilled workers, Meta also invested in NOCC’s Building Trades program as part of its broader commitment to strengthening America’s construction workforce through America’s Workforce Academy.

“Meta is proud to partner with the New Orleans Career Center and Claire Jecklin to ensure students throughout New Orleans will be part of building the future for our country. Through America’s Workforce Academy, this partnership will ensure these students have a great foundation for a career in the skilled trades,” said Dina Powell McCormick, president and vice chairman of Meta.

Meta Investment Helps NOCC Build Construction Workforce. Photo provided by NOCC. For Cooper, the path to one of Louisiana’s largest construction projects began when his wife, Jamai, completed NOCC’s Patient Care Technician training and secured a job at University Medical Center. Seeing how her career transformed their household finances, Cooper enrolled in NOCC’s tuition-free welding program.

Balancing NOCC training with work and family responsibilities wasn’t easy. When his restaurant schedule prevented him from arriving at the same time as other trainees, his instructor stayed an additional hour after class to help him complete his training.

Cooper graduated in May 2026 with three industry-recognized credentials. Through NOCC’s employer connections, he learned about opportunities at New Orleans-based construction company RNGD and began working there June 2. Within his first month, RNGD recognized his work ethic and assigned him to the Meta project, where he has worked on structural steel connections and other installations while earning additional equipment certifications.

“At the end of the day, everything started with NOCC,” Cooper said.

The change has been significant for his family. Cooper and his wife, who are raising a 3-year-old son and expecting their second child, have moved from struggling to cover household expenses to building savings and planning for their future.

“This 100% changed my family’s financial situation,” Cooper said. “Once I finally graduated, everything changed. There’s no struggle. It’s like bills come through with ease. We have a new baby on the way and we’re planning to take a cruise next year.”

Students attend hands-on training at New Orleans Career Center (NOCC), Tuesday, February 4, 2026 in New Orleans, Louisiana. NOCC: Building Louisiana’s Skilled Workforce NOCC is responding to growing industry demand through tuition-free, employer-aligned training in welding, electrical work, carpentry and HVAC. Its Building Trades program is now the organization’s second-largest and fastest-growing sector. During the 2025-26 training year, 98% of Building Trades trainees earned industry-based credentials, and 56 have since secured construction-related employment. Starting wages averaged approximately $24 per hour.

Meta’s investment supports training equipment, materials and hands-on learning opportunities across NOCC’s Building Trades pathways. It stems from the company’s America’s Workforce Academy, a nationwide initiative backed by an initial $115 million commitment to expand skilled trades training, beginning in four states, including Louisiana.

“This investment is about much more than expanding our Building Trades program,” said Claire Jecklin, NOCC’s founding CEO. “It helps build Louisiana’s future workforce from our own talent. Over the next two years, we’ll prepare more than 500 young people for these high-demand entry-level construction jobs with strong wages and benefits. Whether they are contributing to other major construction projects across the state, or launching careers that strengthen our city, NOCC’s graduates will be ready to go to work or further education.”

For Cooper, those opportunities mean more than earning a paycheck. His new career offers benefits, a 401(k) retirement plan and opportunities to continue developing his skills. He has also returned to NOCC to encourage current trainees to take advantage of the opportunities available to them.

“When it comes down to paycheck, being respected on a job – this is different, it’s very different,” from a job a young person might get straight out of school, Cooper said. “You get respected, you get paid, you get benefits.”

Meta Investment Helps NOCC Build Construction Workforce. Photo provided by NOCC.

Meta Investment Helps NOCC Build Construction Workforce

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