International Training Institute, Skills USA partner to promote labor

National competition brings talent to Kansas City, awareness of sheet metal union

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Skills USA’s 47th annual National Leadership and Skills Conference (NLSC) returns to Kansas City, Mo. June 19-24 with a new partner in hand – the International Training Institute (ITI), the education arm of the unionized sheet metal industry. The championships, which consist of more than 5,500 young adults from across the country, will take place on June 23. At least 3,000 of those students are directly related to the building trades.

This year marks the first time ITI will co-sponsor the welding competition in order to raise awareness of the secondary education and career training the unionized sheet metal and air conditioning industry can provide. The partnership between Skills USA and ITI allows for the exchange of information, so schools with Skills USA programs can reach out to the professional community for mentorship, expertise and guidance while ITI can recruit from a talent pool that already understands and practices leadership skills. The partnership also will eventually allow Skills USA to track their graduates through the sheet metal industry and check on their progress.

“Skills USA teaches the skills we are looking for, and it’s not just welding,” said Larry Lawrence, instructional development specialist with ITI. “It’s a win-win for both sides. Students come out of Skills USA with the leadership skills, a working knowledge and their safety training.”

As a result of the economy, recruitment has been difficult, Lawrence said. Through the partnership with Skills USA, ITI will be able to recruit apprentices like college campuses recruit student athletes.

“Right now, we don’t know who we’re getting until they arrive,” he added. “We can get someone from a technical academy who has hands-on talent but no leadership skills. Or we can get someone who went to college and can’t apply what they’ve learned. In the Skills USA instance, most of their programs are industry-driven programs, and they have experts who advise the students, so we get the best of both worlds.”

More than 15,000 apprentices are registered at training facilities in theUnited States and Canada. The ITI is jointly sponsored by Sheet Metal Worker’s International Association (SMWIA) and the Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors’ National Association (SMACNA). ITI supports apprenticeship and advanced career training for union workers in the sheet metal industry throughout theUnited StatesandCanada. Located in Alexandria,Va., ITI produces a standardized sheet metal curriculum supported by a wide variety of training materials free of charge to sheet metal apprentices and journeymen.

For more information about  ITI, visit www.sheetmetal-iti.org or call 703-739-7200.

Events for this year’s conference will take place at the H. Roe Bartle Conference Center, the American Royal/Kemper Arena, the Municipal Auditorium and The Marriott, Phillips andCrownePlaza.

For additional information about the Skills USA’s National Leadership and Skills Conference, visit www.skillsusa.org/about/mediakit.shtml.

Puerto Rico training program emerges to plan for future

Contracts, partnerships and persistence keep Local #41 on the educational track

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – During this recession, planning for the future of the sheet metal and air conditioning industry has been a heavy focus for the industry’s International Training Institute (ITI).

When times are tough, it’s easy to just tread water and wait it out, but that approach won’t help the industry grow and ensure it’s ready when times are good again. Instead, the ITI recommends its Joint Apprentice Training Centers (JATC) continue to train an appropriate number of new apprentices each year.

Sheet Metal Local #41 inPuerto Rico has taken that message to heart. It was established five years ago nearSan Juan, and after a year, organizers quickly realized training was needed. The journey, however, was going to be a marathon, not a sprint.

During the next three years, the JATC worked with the ITI to build the curriculum and Puerto Rican leaders to pave the way to certification. Courses were established with local labor needs in mind, and in 2009, the new JATC was recognized and authorized with the Vocational Technical and High Skills School Number V20-05 license, which is needed inPuerto Ricoto operate.

In September 2010, the Local #41 signed a contract  with Ana G. Mendez University effective for the January 2011 semester. The partnership gives the university the academic role while the JATC focuses on the hands-on training the industry is famous for providing to students.

For 2011, Local #41 earned $420,000 in contracts and partnerships to operate the program.

“It’s completely different from starting up the union any other place,” said Kevin Mulcahy, assistant director of organizing with the Sheet Metal Workers International Association. “We’ve actually been very successful in getting partnerships and contracts.”

Courses are offered in air conditioning and refrigeration; testing, adjusting and balancing (TAB); welding; sheet metal; industrial refrigeration; industrial welding; water and air balancing; and building information modeling (BIM) software. Courses are a direct reflection of the industry in Puerto Rico today. Large office complexes and malls make TAB essential, and most of the members in Local #41 are individual contractors or own small companies dedicated to refrigeration and air conditioning, Mulcahy said.

“The focus on welding is because it’s known as a well paid profession with a lot of work possibilities. Because there is a lack of welders in the United States, we think our center is prepared to provide qualified and complete training to cover part of this demand,” said Alfredo Marí, business manager and JATC coordinator in Puerto Rico. “Refrigeration inPuerto Rico is the main trade due to the tropical conditions that we face. Everything on the island has to be refrigerated or air conditioned all year round.”

Although the unemployment rate inPuerto Ricois 16 percent, according to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, membership at Local #41 is a strong 97, and because of contracts with partners like the university, they will train 55 new members this year.

“Students are drawn to our program because of the quality of the training we offer and the promise that we’ll be able to find them a job as the economy grows,” Marí said. “Also, for the type of training that we provide, our facilities are competitive with the best in the island.”

The International Training Institute (best known as ITI) is jointly sponsored by Sheet Metal Worker’s International Association (SMWIA) and the Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors’ National Association (SMACNA). ITI offers apprenticeship and advanced career training for union workers in the sheet metal industry throughout the United States and Canada. Located in Alexandria,Va., ITI produces a standardized sheet metal curriculum supported by a wide variety of training materials free-of-charge to sheet metal apprentices and journeymen.

For more information about the International Training Institute, visit www.sheetmetal-iti.org or call 703-739-7200.

Training centers plan for tomorrow by recruiting apprentices

International Training Institute encourages JATCs nationwide to plan for the future, not just react to current conditions

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – During a tough economy, it’s sometimes difficult to think to the future when present concerns are here and now. For the sheet metal industry’s training centers ­– called JATCs – there is no rest as journeymen retire daily and members leave for other jobs. Although there are currently unemployed sheet metal workers, along with many others across construction trades, large construction jobs are on the horizon, and the International Training Institute (ITI) for the sheet metal and air conditioning industry is encouraging training centers across the country to prepare for the future.

Larry Lawrence, instructional development specialist for the International Training Institute and former training director for the Denver area, is doing just that. Instead of turning applicants away at the door, Lawrence attracts high school and college-age youth to the apprenticeship program. As long as apprentices are working, they get paid for their training, and with a partnership through the local community college, they earn college credits as well.

“We run our apprenticeship program more like a college,” Lawrence said. “We have tracks for them to learn different parts of the industry as an expertise. It helps with recruiting, too, when a kid gets to pick instead of being told what to pick.”

Lawrence also has done his homework. With Union Station, a station for Denver’s commuter train, and two hospitals on tap to begin construction between November and March, jobs are on the horizon.

“Once work hits, you’re going to be busy, and when it hits, you’d rather be at the front of the bus than the back of the bus,” he said, earning his “bus driver” moniker. “It’s good for us because it helps with recruiting when you know you can put people to work.”

Although Denver’s JATC has a 78 percent graduation rate, it also has a 30 percent unemployment rate, which is on the lower end compared to parts of the country like Las Vegas, which recently hit 15 percent unemployment ­– the highest in the country. Dan Rose, training director for Local #88 in Las Vegas, has 45 percent of apprentices out of work. Although his unemployment rate is higher than many, he still manages to bring in a 25-person class to help plan for the future when the recession lifts.

“We have done all our homework as far as retirees and attrition rates,” Rose said. “It takes five years to bring an apprentice to journeyman status, and in that time, things could get better. We need to continue training people for when that does turn around. When the economy turns around, they’ll be ready and more employable.”

Lance Clark, training director at Local #105 near Los Angeles, thought a little closer to home for new apprentices when developing a training strategy for the new economy. Instead of hiring all outside apprentices, Clark decided to promote helpers – those who work with the union driving trucks and other positions.

“We can promote within when it’s a down economy and down market,” he said. “The helpers are already proven. I get a better success rate of the employer keeping them on the job because they’re tested.”

Promoting from within also saves money because there is no probationary period. Since workers already have a relationship with the union and contractors, there is less attrition. Less time spent equals less money spent, which allows the union to invest in the ideal apprentices. Clark also looks to outside sources for premium employees, such as the Helmets to Hard Hats program, which brings in former military personnel. 

“It doesn’t mean you can’t come in from the street, but in down times, it’s hard to get employers to keep workers. And when you promote within, they’re all proven,” Clark added. “There’s a work force waiting out there, and they’re helpers. If you’re looking for success in recruitment, look to your own.”

No matter the theory, strategy or program, training centers across the nation are battling the same challenges, but planning for tomorrow is just as important as the concerns of today, Lawrence, Rose and Clark agreed.

With apprentices today, “we know if they stick, they’re going to stay,” Lawrence said. “And if we don’t replace the guys who are retiring, we’re in trouble. I tell anyone who listens to me.”

More than 15,000 apprentices are registered at training facilities in the United States and Canada. The ITI is jointly sponsored by Sheet Metal Worker’s International Association (SMWIA) and the Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors’ National Association (SMACNA). ITI supports apprenticeship and advanced career training for union workers in the sheet metal industry throughout the United States and Canada. Located in Alexandria, Va., ITI produces a standardized sheet metal curriculum supported by a wide variety of training materials free of charge to sheet metal apprentices and journeymen.

For more information about the contest or ITI, visit www.sheetmetal-iti.org or call 703-739-7200.