Leeward Community College program offers pathway to rail jobs

A 3-year-old Associate of Science degree program at Leeward Community College to train students for jobs at rail contractor Hitachi Rail Honolulu — and other automated technical industries — has so far led to jobs for 10 graduates at Hitachi, including Tavia Santiago, a 46-year-old mother of three.

Santiago went back to school at Leeward after working as a security guard and a warehouse worker.

Even though she had yet to graduate in 2020 with her degree in integrated industrial technology, Hitachi Rail hired her in 2019 for her current job as an automatic train control technician making repairs, conducting testing and trouble-shooting.

“It’s kind of a big deal for a town girl from Molokai,” Santiago said. “It’s never too late. I encourage everyone out there to get educated.”

The two-year certificate program began as an outreach to Leeward by then-rail bidder Bombardier to meet a city requirement to hire as much as 90% of its workforce locally, said Bill Labby, now the program’s director at Leeward.

But Leeward students also would qualify for positions with government and private industries, especially those relying on automation.

Of the 33 Leeward students who have graduated, most are local and have gotten good-paying jobs at home, Labby said.

One works for the city’s wastewater treatment plant, and another for BAE Systems Inc., Labby said.

“It’s robotics for big kids,” he said. “Of the 10 people working at Hitachi, four of them I know for sure are under 25 years old and a couple are 22, and their starting pay was around $59,000, $60,000 a year, and that’s a really good deal for a single 22-year-old living with his parents. These are high-skilled, high-wage jobs that are not only available now, but more are becoming available. I’m pretty excited about it, and it’s going to do great things for the state.”

Currently, 15 Leeward students are in their third semester, and 20 more are in their first semester.

The program “is not for everybody,” Labby said.

But it’s a good fit for local residents with an aptitude for science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) who might not have the grades to get into a four-year engineering program, or want to stay home and get into the workforce faster.

“It’s a STEM program and it’s technical, but what it doesn’t have is the calculus,” Labby said. “A highly skilled technician has to speak the language of an engineer but do trouble-shooting and maintenance. They may want to be engineers someday.”

Lori Kahikina, interim executive director and CEO of the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation, graduated from Kamehameha Schools and the University of Hawaii at Manoa and said the program is designed to provide “well-paying jobs” for local students.

“Transportation infrastructure such as the rail system in Honolulu is essential to create long-term economic growth for Honolulu,” Kahikina said in a statement. “Rail systems create high-paying industry jobs and the Integrated Industrial Technology program at LCC is a straight path to an exciting career, right here at home in the islands. It’s so important for our youth to know that they have the opportunity for higher education and a long-term, high-paying job in this emerging sector without having to leave Hawaii.”

The rail project, Kahi­kina said, offers “a variety of jobs to our local community. Whether it’s in construction, maintenance, development of future routes, or operations … for decades to come.”

Hitachi Rail also is working on an internship program with UH’s College of Engineering and currently has postings at the college for two engineering jobs, said Hitachi Rail project director Robert Beadle.

HITACHI also has restarted discussions for another internship for students at nearby Waipahu High School which had to be tabled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Leeward students already have proved themselves in a wide range of Hitachi jobs, Beadle said, including as vehicle technicians and field technicians.

“We’re extremely happy with their skill set, their ability and willingness to step into the workforce,” he said.

“They’re hands-on technicians,” Beadle said. “Their skill set transfers into all sorts of industries.”

There will be other opportunities for Leeward students at Hitachi, including possibly going into management, Beadle said.

“There is no limit,” he said.

The current plan is to run trains along a 20.2-mile, 21-station route from East Kapolei to Ala Moana Center, Hawaii’s busiest transit hub. The project is currently budgeted at $12.499 billion and is not scheduled for completion until March 2031. The budget faces a current shortfall of about $3.5 billion, with no simple plan to plug the deficit and no offers of financial assistance.

Rod Baybayan, 35, of Kaneohe, was working at Hitachi Rail as an operations and maintenance engineer when he began helping Labby develop Leeward’s integrated industries technology program and began teaching night courses.

“It’s important for my kids’ future,” Baybayan said. “It creates jobs and keeps jobs in Hawaii for an industry that we’ve never had. … It keeps the talent here locally.”

WORKING AT Hitachi also has now become a source of family pride.

Baybayan’s father, Rodlee, also works for Hitachi — as a depot equipment technician after retiring from the Navy as an aircraft carrier machinist mate and Navy recruiter.

Now when Rod Baybayan drives his two sons — ages 5 and 3 — past HART’s Pearl City Rail Operations Center next to Leeward Community College to visit his father and mother in Waikele, “my kids say, ‘That’s where Dad works.’”

“And I say, ‘That’s where Dad and Papa work.’”