| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Type | Evening craft training run by a contractor trade association, in classrooms and labs; not a college |
| Training centers | 2 in Louisiana: Baton Rouge (Highland Road) and the Southwest Training Center in Westlake (Walcot Road). New Westlake and Lake Charles sites announced |
| Credentials | A credential for each level completed, recorded in the NCCER Registry for the NCCER crafts; no diplomas or degrees |
| Program length | Core 12–14 weeks; crafts one or two years of 20-week semesters; welding self-paced, typically 2–3 years |
| Accreditation | No institutional accreditation. NCCER Accredited Training Sponsor since 2001 |
| Federal aid | No federal student aid (Title IV) found; most students are sponsored by employers |
| Operator | Pelican Chapter, Associated Builders and Contractors, Inc., a 501(c)(6) contractor association incorporated in 1980 |
| Facts checked | October 2026 |
A contractor association’s craft school
ABC Baton Rouge is the training arm of the Pelican Chapter of Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC Pelican), a Louisiana contractor trade association incorporated in 1980 that covers 52 of the state’s 64 parishes. Under the name ABC Pelican Craft Training it runs two training centers, in Baton Rouge and Westlake, teaching industrial and construction crafts from NCCER curricula and welding to American Welding Society standards.
It works differently from a trade college. Most students already work as helpers for contractors and come to class two evenings a week for one to three years, and tuition depends on whether their employer is a member. The chapter is a 501(c)(6) business league; in its 2024 fiscal year 93% of its $6.3 million revenue came from program services. In 2025 it broke ground on a new Westlake center and announced another in Lake Charles.
Programs at the Baton Rouge and Westlake centers
All craft courses use NCCER curricula except welding, which is based on American Welding Society standards. Students earn a credential for each level they complete, recorded in the NCCER Registry for the NCCER crafts; nothing here is a diploma or degree. Classes are in person at the training centers.
| Program | Credential | Length | Schedule | Where | Non-member tuition per semester (Baton Rouge, 2026) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Core (Introduction to Construction) | NCCER Core | 12–14 weeks | 1 evening a week | Both centers | $600 |
| Electrical | NCCER Levels 1–4 | 2 years (4 × 20 weeks) | 2 evenings a week; Westlake also accelerated days | Both centers | $1,000 |
| Instrumentation | NCCER Levels 1–4 | 2 years (4 × 20 weeks) | 2 evenings a week | Both centers | $1,000 |
| Millwright | NCCER Levels 1–4 | 2 years (4 × 20 weeks) | 2 evenings a week | Both centers | $1,000 |
| Pipefitting | NCCER Levels 1–4 | 2 years (4 × 20 weeks) | 2 evenings a week | Both centers | $1,000 |
| Heavy Equipment Operator | NCCER Levels 1–2 | 1 year (2 × 20 weeks) | 2 evenings a week | Both centers | $1,000 |
| Mobile Crane Operator | NCCER Levels 1–2 | Listed as 1 year* | 2 evenings a week | Baton Rouge | $1,000* |
| Welding | AWS-based Levels 1–3 | Self-paced, typically 4–6 semesters | 2 evenings (6–9 pm) or 2 afternoons (3–6 pm); Westlake also accelerated days | Both centers | $1,600 |
* Mobile crane details and the supervisory courses come from copies of the school’s pages that we could not recheck on abctraining.org; confirm them with the school. Baton Rouge also offers two supervisory courses for working staff, Construction Site Safety Technician and Project Coordinator.
What the main programs cover
Core: the required first course
Core is NCCER’s Introduction to Construction, a single course of 12 to 14 weeks that meets one evening a week. Every craft program except welding requires it, so a new student who wants electrical, instrumentation, millwright, pipefitting, heavy equipment or crane training spends the first semester here before starting Level 1. It carries no prerequisite of its own, and passing it is recorded in the NCCER Registry, the same record that each later level adds to.
Electrical, instrumentation, millwright and pipefitting
These four crafts each run as NCCER Levels 1 to 4, one level per 20-week semester, so a student who starts Level 1 in January and keeps going finishes two years later. Classes combine classroom work and lab practice at the center; there is no externship, and most students already work in the field as helpers. Pipefitting here means industrial process piping, not residential plumbing.
Welding
Welding is the one program open to complete beginners without Core; the school says all skill levels are welcome. Level 1 is shielded metal arc (stick) welding on plate, Level 2 moves to stick welding on pipe and Level 3 is gas tungsten arc (TIG) welding on pipe. The program is self-paced: students who pass a level’s tests mid-semester can move up, so experienced welders can finish sooner than the typical four to six semesters. It is the only evening program that also has an afternoon section.
Heavy equipment and mobile crane
Heavy Equipment Operator is NCCER Levels 1 and 2 over two 20-week semesters, taught at both centers, and its page mentions employer connections through ABC’s Gulf Coast network. Baton Rouge also lists Mobile Crane Operator, NCCER Levels 1 and 2. The crane course page does not mention NCCCO certification, which is a separate credential, so ask whether any certification testing is included before enrolling. The new Prater Road center in Westlake, where ground was broken in April 2025, is planned with a heavy-equipment yard.
Accelerated day training at Westlake
Westlake runs an Accelerated option for Electrical or Welding for students who can attend during the day. ABC describes it as four levels in six months, Monday to Thursday, either 8 am to 1 pm or noon to 5 pm; the Westlake electrical page sets it out as four six-week semesters at four days a week. That is a daytime schedule, unlike the evening classes the other courses use. Westlake also runs dual enrolment for high-school students through their schools’ agriculture teachers.
Tuition depends on your employer
ABC Pelican charges by the semester, and the rate depends on who sponsors the student. GBRIA/ICC rates apply to employees of, or students sponsored by, Greater Baton Rouge Industry Alliance / ICC member companies; member rates apply to employees of ABC Pelican member companies; everyone else, including people paying for themselves, pays the non-member rate. Baton Rouge rates on the course pages checked in October 2026 (no effective date shown):
| Course (per semester) | GBRIA/ICC sponsored | ABC Pelican member employee | Non-member or individual |
|---|---|---|---|
| Core | $300 | $450 | $600 |
| Electrical, Instrumentation, Millwright, Pipefitting, Heavy Equipment Operator | $300 | $600 | $1,000 |
| Welding | $300 | $900 | $1,600 |
At those rates a self-paying student would pay $4,600 for Core plus a four-level craft, and $6,400 to $9,600 for welding over four to six semesters (our arithmetic, not a published total). Book fees are not listed. Westlake’s electrical, pipefitting and heavy equipment pages list $300 a semester with discounts for member companies, but do not publish non-member rates or the cost of the Accelerated program.
Paying for it. We found no federal student aid (Title IV) for these courses; most students are sponsored by their employer, and employer-sponsored students get their own registration window. ABC Pelican’s Baton Rouge center appears on the Louisiana Office of Student Financial Assistance’s undated list of proprietary schools approved for the M.J. Foster Promise Program, which does not name programs. According to LOSFA (2025), the program pays up to $3,200 a year ($1,600 a semester, $6,400 lifetime) to adults aged 19 or older in 2025–26 training for high-demand fields, with income at or below 300% of the federal poverty level or who are unemployed or underemployed. Ask ABC Pelican which of its courses qualify. Its pages do not mention WIOA funding or GI Bill benefits.
Registration and class times
There are two semesters a year, spring and fall. Craft semesters last 20 weeks and Core 12 to 14 weeks. Fall 2026 enrolment has closed. For spring 2027 at Baton Rouge, current students re-enrol 1–29 October 2026, employer-sponsored new students register 2–30 November and the general public registers 1–17 December; classes start 4 January 2027. Westlake enrols from 1 October to 17 December 2026, with classes from 11 January 2027. Students apply with a PDF form or by phone.
Craft classes meet two evenings a week (Core one evening). Welding meets 6 to 9 pm or 3 to 6 pm, two days a week. The course pages do not say which nights of the week classes meet.
NCCER sponsorship and published results
ABC Pelican has no institutional accreditation. It has been an NCCER Accredited Training Sponsor since 2001 (NCCER profile, 2014), and students’ NCCER levels are recorded in the NCCER Registry. That is not the same as accreditation of a college.
ABC Pelican publishes no current completion, credential or job-placement rates. Industry news reports give class sizes: 174 graduates at Baton Rouge in spring 2019 and 156 in fall 2019, when the largest groups were welding (63) and mobile crane (19).
Before you enroll
- The Electrical program does not by itself give you a licence. Louisiana’s contractor board licenses electrical contractors, and individual journeyman and master licences are handled by parishes and cities, so check with your local licensing office whether it counts NCCER levels.
- The course pages do not call any program a registered apprenticeship. If you need classroom hours for a registered apprenticeship, confirm with your employer or sponsor that ABC Pelican’s courses count.
- Prices assume an employer. Paying for yourself costs the non-member rate, more than three times the GBRIA/ICC rate for most crafts, and the general public registers last, after current and employer-sponsored students.
- The crane course is NCCER Mobile Crane Levels 1–2; its page does not mention NCCCO certification.
- A new Westlake center on Prater Road, where ground was broken in April 2025, may replace or add to the Walcot Road center (see below), so check the address when you enrol.
New Southwest Louisiana centers announced
In April 2025 ABC Pelican broke ground on a $15 million, 37,000-square-foot Southwest Training Center at 600 Prater Road in Westlake, about two miles from the current Walcot Road center, with 12 classrooms, a heavy-equipment yard and a process-equipment plant. American Press reported an expected opening in fall 2026; as of October 2026 spring 2027 enrolment still points to Walcot Road.
In March 2025 ABC also announced plans to turn a former Walgreens at 2000 Gerstner Memorial Drive in Lake Charles into another craft-training center, paid for largely with the city’s Hurricane Laura and Delta recovery funds. Pipefitting, electrical, welding and instrumentation were planned, with day and evening classes, and completion was targeted for the second quarter of 2026. We could not confirm that it has opened.
Employer ties rather than a placement office
ABC Pelican describes no formal job-placement service or housing. Because tuition and registration are built around sponsoring employers, most students already have a job in the trade, and the Heavy Equipment Operator page points to employer connections through ABC’s Gulf Coast network.
Sources
Checked October 2026: Baton Rouge Training Center · Baton Rouge craft courses · Southwest Training Center · Welding · Accelerated training · NCCER profile · ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer · American Press, April 2025
Programs & Courses
First course
- Core: Introduction to Construction (NCCER; required for every craft except welding)
NCCER craft programs
- Electrical (Levels 1–4)
- Instrumentation (Levels 1–4)
- Millwright (Levels 1–4)
- Pipefitting (Levels 1–4)
- Heavy Equipment Operator (Levels 1–2)
- Mobile Crane Operator (Levels 1–2, Baton Rouge)
Welding (AWS-based)
- Level 1: SMAW Plate
- Level 2: SMAW Pipe
- Level 3: GTAW (TIG) Pipe
Accelerated day training (Westlake)
- Accelerated Electrical
- Accelerated Welding
Supervisory courses (Baton Rouge)
- Construction Site Safety Technician
- Project Coordinator
Campus Locations
Baton Rouge, LA 19251 Highland Road, Baton Rouge, LA 70809
Westlake, LA 222 Walcot Road, Westlake, LA 70669