WILMINGTON, Del. - DuPont reports that since its new Refinish Systems Training Center opened in January, it has been a hive of activity. “We’ve been running at capacity and even above capacity,” said David Helms, senior training instructor at the facility. “Painters have come to us from as far away as Utah, Connecticut and Florida.”
The Center, located not far from Chicago, in Itasca, Ill., features three classrooms and 12,000 feet of shop training area. Equipment includes two down draft paint booths, two prep decks and four mixing rooms. “Class size is usually 16 students,” said Helms. “But, as I say, on occasion they’ve been larger. Training can run two to three days, depending on the curriculum.”
“We teach both waterborne and solvent systems, with a ratio of about 60-40 in favor of waterborne,” said Helms. “There’s a real thirst for that training.” The Itasca Center brings the total to five DuPont Training Centers. Besides Itasca, the others are located in Plymouth, Mich.; Pomona, Calif.; Atlanta, Ga.; and Lionville, Pa.
