The Indiana/Kentucky/Ohio Regional Council of Carpenters Open House season is officially complete. We had record-breaking attendance at nearly every training center – and shattered our total attendance records. Through September and October, we saw over 7,800 high schoolers, community leaders, and more in our training centers in Warsaw, Merrillville, Louisville, Greenwood, Newburgh, Terre Haute, Grayson, Richfield, Columbus, Monroe, and Rossford. Read more
In February, we celebrated 863 graduates from 2020, 2021, and 2022: with over 400 walking across the stage for the Ohio Carpenters Joint Apprenticeship and Training Program’s graduation ceremony.
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A monumental achievement unfolded on a Saturday night as 444 skilled and dedicated apprentices from the Indiana/Kentucky/Ohio Regional Council of Carpenters celebrated the culmination of four years of unwavering commitment and hard work. A Promising Future Each year, the Regional Council celebrates the achievements of the union’s newest journey-level carpenters. “The apprenticeship is not an […]
Grayson, KY— With the growing need for construction workers in and around Kentucky, the IKORCC Joint Apprenticeship and Training Fund is expanding their Grayson Kentucky training facility.
A groundbreaking ceremony was held on April 18, 2023, at the Carpenter’s Union Training Center at 574 Carpenters Way, Grayson, KY 41143 to launch the expansion. The event hosted apprentices, state and local officials, keynote speaker Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, local business owners, and IKORCC labor representatives.
“Today is an investment in creating more high skilled workers….it’s also a 5 million dollar investment in Grayson Kentucky.,” Governor Beshear told the crowd of nearly 110 attendees. Read more
Out of work? Don’t forget to register for the Mix 2020 Job Dispatch System. As a member of the Indiana/Kentucky/Ohio Regional Council of Carpenters, you have access to Mix 2020 Dispatch if you become unemployed. To register for Mix 2020, please follow the steps below.
5200 hours of on the job training, 640 classroom hours, 4 years of dedication and sacrifice – that’s the kind of experience you get when you hire a journey level carpenter from the United Brotherhood of Carpenters. Saturday night, 405 fully trained journeymen and women graduated from the Indiana/Kentucky/Ohio Regional Council of Carpenters Joint Apprenticeship and Training Fund program during a ceremony at the JW Marriott in Indianapolis, Indiana.
“Congratulations to the newest journey level carpenters,” said UBC General President Douglas McCarron in a video address to graduates. “You’ve reached a milestone in your careers and you did it during some very difficult times. The pandemic affected your training, but you stayed strong and completed your apprenticeship.”
View photos from the event here.
EST Todd Pancake congratulates the newest journey level carpenters at the IKORCC JATF apprenticeship graduation.
405 graduates completed their apprenticeship – the most graduates ever in Indiana and Kentucky. IKORCC Executive Secretary-Treasurer M. Todd Pancake told graduates there’s never been a better time to be a union carpenter.
“You may not realize it, but you’ve met a goal. And now it’s time to look ahead and set a new goal. There are more opportunities available today than I’ve ever seen in the industry,” said EST Pancake as he congratulated graduates and shared the plethora of opportunities in the job market for skilled tradespeople.
This year’s graduates overcame many challenges due to COVID-19, including taking portions of their 4th year classes online, in addition to meeting rigorous graduation requirements. These graduates are a vital addition to a workforce desperate for skilled tradesmen. Graduates were trained as carpenters, millwrights or floor coverers.
“Everything we do is about attitude. Everything you do is 100 percent attitude, so always remember that. We are many trades, but one United Brotherhood,” Jerry Burke, Director of Education for the IKORCC JATF said.
Congratulations and thank you to the 16 Helmets to Hardhats graduates that completed their apprenticeship and honorably served our country.
16 of the graduates honorably served in our nation’s military and took part in the IKORCC’s Helmets to Hardhats program. Helmets to Hardhats puts vets on a fast track to union apprenticeship and a rewarding career in carpentry after their military service.
Helmets to Hardhats graduates represented the US Marines, US Army, US Army Reserves, and the US Navy.
In a speech to graduates, Royce Peters, Executive Director of the Carpenters International Training Fund, encouraged graduates to be good mentors and continue their training. “This journeymen class is now walking on paths in the construction industry that are not only unprecedented but unimaginable. Technology is changing. The key to staying competitive in today’s construction world is training.”
EST Todd Pancake and 2021 IKORCC JATF graduate speaker Brittany Grier of Local 413.
New journeywoman Brittany Grier, from the Warsaw Training Center and Local 413, inspired the room as the 2021 IKORCC JAFT graduate speaker. Brittany is a fourth-generation carpenter, third-generation union carpenter and a second-generation female carpenter. She’s a superintendent for Ziolkowski Construction.
“The union runs in my blood and I believe in its ability to unite and build,” she said. “We are undervalued profession, yet we earn more hourly than the average American. Plus, 100 percent of our benefits are paid for by the contractor out of their pocket.”
She added, “In this room are all new journeyman carpenters. We have this fresh start to strengthen the reputation of the union, raise our worth, which will raise our wage – it all starts here with the United Brotherhood of Carpenters. Uniting together, treating our brothers like family and in turn changing the industry of carpentry.”
View her full speech here:
On August 24th, the Indiana/Kentucky/Ohio Regional Council of Carpenters alongside officials from the Indiana Office of Work-Based Learning and Apprenticeship (OWBLA), IKORCC signatory contractors, school officials, and community stakeholders formally recognized Porter County Career Center (PCCC), Portage High School, and Chesterton High School’s respective carpentry programs as newly certified State Earn and Learn (SEAL) Programs.
Porter County Career and Technical Center – signatory contractor partner – Tonn & Blank Const. representative Megan Wheeler
State Earn and Learn (SEAL) Program
The SEAL Program is now one of Indiana’s state-level pre-apprenticeship programs. SEAL is designed to deliver a work-and-learn experience for pre-apprentices along with both the skills and certifications that will make them more valuable to potential employers.
IKORCC SEAL programs are aligned to the Indiana Career and Technical Educations Next Level Program of Study. By utilizing the Carpenters Career Connections curriculum, students will also be earning an IKORCC Carpentry Level 1 Apprentice Certification that satisfies Indiana Graduation Pathway’s postsecondary readiness requirement.