Member Focus: Chanda Chambers
founder of Chambers Welding & Fabrication
In welding, a bond is the joining of a base metal with a welding metal. It’s a key part of the work Chambers Welding & Fabrication does as their team builds and repairs resilient structures all over Chattanooga. Since founding the business in 2015, Chanda has earned a reputation for exceptional quality and craftsmanship on residential, commercial, and industrial projects. She and her husband have also been intentional about using their business to form strong bonds in their community.
Welding wasn’t Chanda’s first career path. She served in the military and worked in a variety of professional roles. But she has seen how trades can be a great opportunity for personal growth and professional development. “It comes from me growing up in Seattle,” she says. “There were a lot of programs around if you were interested in doing something with your life other than college. I think that we need to have those options nowadays. I think the generation of my daughter and the generation right before, I think that they're really eager to learn to do things on their own and with their hands.”
This realization inspired Chanda to help start a welding school that opens up more opportunities for individuals to get the proper training needed to start a career as a welder. “The people that I tend to target to help in the community are those who cannot pass a GED. Those who have any form of convictions or drug use in the past. Any person that's in a wheelchair, or disabled in that way. I'm looking for those who are kind of left without opportunity or feel like there's no opportunity left,” Chanda says. In just six months, trainees can earn a welding certificate and start earning a minimum wage.
Chanda is striving to expose more people to welding, “so that way they're able to kind of be able to say the terminology and do some of the things whether they want to do it or as skill-set or just for fun, especially women because when I walk in a room I only see me.” She admits to feeling some imposter syndrome when she first started out and would point at a tool and say “thingy” if she didn’t know the name of it. So, Chanda is excited to start offering more fun and educational classes like Women and Welding, where you can build anything from a sectional made out of metal to a fire pit for your backyard. Or, you and your friends could try Whiskey and Welding where you can sharpen your skills by making your own sword or axe.
Running the business, a training school, and programs like these keep Chanda pretty busy. Common House provides her with the perfect space to catch up on work and unwind. “You can have a meeting downstairs in the coffee area or you can sit by the pool and do work and just chill,” she says. “There are just so many different beautiful things about Common House, including the gym and the different classes that they offer.”
Speaking of classes, keep an eye out for upcoming welding classes at Chambers Welding & Fabrication where you might just spark a new skill-set or hobby.