About Us

Our mission and vision

In a world of uncertainty, one thing holds true, the trades will never die. We learned early on that trade schools are a great place to start a career, that is not any truer than it is today. According to the American Welding Society, the welding shortage will reach a deficit of over 300,000 workers by 2024. Older welders are reaching retirement age, and younger welders aren't replacing them fast enough. In fact, the average age of a welder is 55 and fewer than 20 percent are under the age of 35. At AWL we not only want to train the next generation of welders and fabricators, but make it our mission to prepare them to be effective members of the workforce, with a more innovative and streamlined approach to training and learning.

Meet our team

Danny Cobb

Lead Instructor/Co-Owner

Danny is an American Welding Society (AWS) Certified Welding Inspector & Educator (CWI/CWE) with over 25 years experience in various aspects of the welding industry. He spent 15 of those years managing a weld shop for Pruitt, a locally owned oil field service company. Most recently, his time as a UAFS Welding Instructor helped him realize, training in the welding trade needed to be more accessible as well as flexible, thus, AWL was born. Danny's experience in education, coupled with his wide-ranging experience in the Industry, is proof his knowledge is invaluable in training his students.

Cory Guadagno

Night Instructor

By day, Cory is a Production Manager at QualServ with over five years of experience in supervising 35-plus employees in welding, and robotic welding, while also testing and training the welders that come through his shop. As another former UAFS Welding Instructor, Cory is well-versed in welding education.

Angela Cobb

Administrator/Co-Owner

Angela manages all administrative aspects of the school. With over 20 years experience in administrative, general office, billing and IT work, she brings a wealth of experience. Angela can assist you with admissions, registration, attendance, scheduling, financial and course question.