Former Keyano College student is inducted into the Alberta Trades Hall of Fame

Former Keyano College student is inducted into the Alberta Trades Hall of Fame

Interim President and CEO of Keyano College, Dale Mountain is extremely proud to announce that former student and community leader Doug Golosky, former owner of Clearwater Welding & Fabricating Ltd., is one of the latest inductees into the recently created Alberta Trades Hall of Fame, honouring Albertans who have made significant contributions to the success and growth of skilled trades and apprenticeship. Mr. Golosky trained at one of the first welding programs offered at the Alberta Vocational Centre (now Keyano College) before completing his welding apprenticeship at NAIT in 1965.

A true pillar of the community, Mr. Golosky has had a big impact on many lives throughout our region. He said, “There’s a great opportunity in the trades, you can do so many things. Being aboriginal Métis, I’m very proud of that. The communities are isolated, for example, Fort Chipewyan, so I thought, why not get involved and try to train people there. So, we worked together with the Mikisew Cree to try to build a facility, a shop to help to train people and keep them in the community.”

Mr. Golosky’s success is a sense of pride for everyone at Keyano College. Caitlin Hartigan, Dean, School of Trades & Heavy Industrial said, “Doug Golosky is an honored Keyano Alumni who has brought so much to our local Community. His passion for the region, technical training, and his work with CAREERS Next Generation are indicative of his incredible support for Keyano’s Apprentices and their future in Fort McMurray.”Richard Dionne, welding instructor at Keyano College and received support from Mr. Golosky said, “It’s not just business. He’s really conscious of community, youth, especially Native youth.  He’s had a couple of industries under his umbrella so that employment factor alone within our community has served a lot of people’s lives, myself included”.

In 1984, Doug Golosky took the risk and, with his wife Carol, founded Clearwater Welding & Fabricating Ltd. which grew to include eight companies. Together, they were one of the largest contractors in the Wood Buffalo region, employing more than 1,000 skilled tradespeople. But with all of that success, Mr. Golosky still views one of his biggest achievements as offering opportunities to young people who, he says, might be headed down the wrong track. He helped hundreds of apprentices earn their journeyman tickets. His perspective is that anyone who is willing to learn and has the drive to show up every day in any kind of weather can have a career in the trades, including Indigenous peoples and women, both of whom he’s made it a point to hire.