Two Welding Graduates Are Back at CNM to Help Build the South Valley Campus Fence

You’d be hard pressed to find two people who love welding more than Dakota Wood and Greyson Tagg. Both went through CNM’s Welding Technology program and spent lots of extra hours at the college honing their skills. During their time here they also participated in the SkillsUSA’s Welding Fabrication competitions, bringing home gold in the state competition and silver in the national competition.

After school, both immediately got a job up in Farmington building machines that helped refine oil and natural gas. They spent two years up there, but then Dakota moved back to Albuquerque to start a family. 

He quickly joined Kerr Squared, LLC—a local fabrication and welding company—and Greyson soon joined him. Now, the duo works all around Albuquerque and recently picked up a project to fabricate the new fence that sits on the West side CNM’s South Valley campus. 

“It feels great to be back and to do something for the CNM community,” Dakota says. “The education I received at the college was outstanding and it truly set me up to be successful in the real world.”

The fence Dakota and Greyson are building is several hundred yards long and six feet tall in places. They plan to complete the project this month. In addition to the CNM fence, they’ve also been building door frames at the new Amazon fulfillment center, working on various PNM projects, and building infrastructure items that will be used at a Facebook facility in Utah. 

“Kerr Squared has been great because the projects we’ve worked on are interesting and challenging and the company itself is super supportive,” Dakota says. 

Both Dakota and Greyson credit their success in large part to the dedication of their instructors at CNM. They feel like their training was top-notch and allowed them to not only be highly confident in their work, but also push forward and be inventive and innovative. 

“I love that I learned a skill that’s always in need and a skill that I can do at a high level,” Greyson says. 

After completing the fence at CNM, both say their plan is to continue growing with the company. They’re already looking forward to what comes next. 

“I love this job,” Dakota says.

Learn more about CNM's Welding Technology program here.