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Celebrating Ohio’s 2024 Apprenticeship Graduates

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COLUMBUS, OH — In the heartland of America, where hard work and craftsmanship are deeply rooted in tradition, the Central Midwest Carpenters Union recently celebrated the graduation of a cohort of skilled apprentices in Ohio. On February 17th, 2024, 355 members celebrated their achievement with friends, coworkers, and family.

The event included a presentation of camo-colored hardhats to the graduating apprentices that entered through the Helmets to Hardhats veteran and active service program. The attendees heard from speakers including Ohio Carpenters’ Joint Apprenticeship and Training Program’s Director of Education Dan Sustin, State Senator Michael Rulli, graduate speaker Austin Clipping, and Central Midwest Carpenters Executive Secretary-Treasurer Matt McGriff.

The graduation ceremony was not just a culmination but a new beginning. The apprenticeship program prepares members not only for their job but for a lifelong career as mentors. Journeymen and women are mentors to the next generation of apprentices, a big responsibility for the future of our organization. Read more

2023 Ohio Graduation

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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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2023 IKORCC Magazine

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You won’t want to miss all the great content inside our annual IKORCC magazine. Inside you’ll find a letter from EST Mike Kwiatkowski with an exciting announcement, updates from hubs across the council, important information on your pension and healthcare, updates on the solar market, training updates, and stories on the incredible IKORCC members.

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IKORCC Magazine

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2022 was a BIG year for the Indiana Kentucky Ohio Regional Council of Carpenters. Take a look at our annual magazine for a letter from EST Mike Kwiatkowski, hub updates, healthcare and pension updates, ITC programs, Sisters in the Brotherhood, training updates, recruitment efforts, and stories of the incredible impact IKORCC members have in the […]

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2023 Scholarship Applications Now Open

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Applications are now open for the IKORCC scholarship program. Forty $1,000 scholarships will be awarded in 2023 to eligible member’s dependent children. Twenty of the scholarships are awarded based on scholastics, and twenty others via a random drawing.

The Indiana/Kentucky/Ohio Regional Council scholastic scholarships are awarded based on 60% high school grade point average and 40% on

 SAT or ACT scores. Twenty scholarships will be selected by random drawing.

The scholarship is to be used solely for the purpose of education in the form of tuition, room and board, and or books.

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Tax Fraud Days of Action 2022: Ohio

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In four events across the state, regional legislators visited the Indiana Kentucky Ohio Regional Council of Carpenters Training Centers on April 12th and 13th to learn more and speak out about construction industry tax fraud. Events were held by IKORCC across the three states and sponsored by the United Brotherhood of Carpenters across the United States and Canada.

On April 12th, the IKORCC held events in Rossford and Monroe.  On April 13th, events took place in Richfield and Columbus.  All four events brought in legislators from both sides of the aisle some with little knowledge of the dangerous practice in the construction industry. Read more

Learning from the Past, Looking Towards the Future

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This year both the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Southwest Ohio’s own Local 2 celebrate their 140th birthday.  In 1880, carpenters in Cincinnati were making just $1.50 a day for their over ten-hour days.  The founding members realized their strength as a joint body was no match for “scabs” without a national union’s support.  During the formation of the UBC at the Chicago convention in 1881, Local 2 was granted a charter with the second most delegates in attendance – making it the longest continuous carpenters local charter in the UBC today.

 

Cincinnati was settled by a majority of German immigrants in the early-mid 1800s so every other meeting’s minutes were transcribed in both English and German language, according to Art Galea Junior. The former Local 2 President and former Southwest Ohio’s training center director spoke about what the history means to him, “it means quite a lot…some of the strife those guys went through made me really appreciate what we had.” “I appreciate it, I’ve been a member over 50 years…I’ve got a lot of memories.”

 

Art, one of seven in his family who would eventually join the Carpenter’s Union, started his apprenticeship program in 1968. Upon graduation he served in the Vietnam War, returned home, and led the apprenticeship program into where it’s at today. They transitioned from classes at the college to the hands-on facilities you see today.   He led the programs through several buildings until it landed in its current home.

 

Thanks to these advanced training centers, even one of the oldest unions can build projects with the newest technology. Multiple union contractors landed the project to install a state-of-the-art grid system for a Kroger Co. Fulfillment Center. Right in Monroe Ohio, UBC Millwrights installed a robotic vertical grid system in the 375,000 square feet facility. The first of its kind, the grid or “The Hive”, has over 1,000 robots flying through the air, up and down, to pick online grocery orders for deliveries up to 90 miles from the hub location. Up to 100 Millwrights were on the project at a time.

 

Trained Scaffold Erectors Needed in Toledo

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In northwest Ohio, representatives are preparing for big calls of labor. With large-scale concrete tilt-up projects in manufacturing facilities, Murphy Tractor, Whiteford/Kenworth, and distribution spec buildings members will be kept busy over the next year.

Members with scaffold training certification are needed for a large call-out at the BP Refinery in Spring 2022.  The Rossford JATC will be holding additional classes for anyone in need of their refresher or interested in getting certified.  Contact the JATC at 419-872-4651 for upcoming classes or to check your status.

In the summer, Toledo area members will be needed to work on the third solar module manufacturing facility for First Solar.  Work includes metal studs, drywall, ceilings, flooring, and Millwrights installing conveyors.  Between, this project and the new Peloton facility ongoing now, representatives expect 50-60 members on-site each respective facility at peak.

This past year the Rossford hub has maintained focus on its tax fraud campaigns.  They held several pickets over the year against a contractor that reported on by the local media.  This added attention, including a signed letter from Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown, helped get carpenters on the job. The efforts are still developing but the hub is motivated by the progress made thus far.

 

 

Community Values in Youngstown

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Although the local JATC was unable to hold their annual open house, the Youngstown-Steubenville Hub still found a way to introduce high school students to the opportunities within the IKORCC apprenticeship program.

The Mahoning Valley Skilled Trades Expo hosted their second skilled trades event aimed at promoting union trades to seventh through twelfth-grade students.  Unfortunately, the event was canceled last year due to the pandemic but returned with new ways to promote careers in the trades.  The Hub partnered with local contractors like AP O’Horo, the Western Reserve Building Trades, and the area school’s Educational Service centers to host the two-day event.  The event launched with a public open house to recruit and educate members from the community outside of just schools. Students from three Ohio and two Western Pennsylvania counties were given a chance to experience hands-on activities at each of the craft’s stations. Splitting this year’s event into two days gave the over 4,500 students more time to visit with each craft.

 

The Youngstown-Steubenville Hub has also partnered with the United Way to build several wheelchair ramps and assist the team in bagging groceries for more than 350 families unable to reach a food pantry in person.  IKORCC members along with community members spent about three to four hours bagging groceries for United Way’s Satur-Day of Caring. The groceries were loaded into volunteers’ cars to be delivered to elderly members of the community.

 

 

Building Boom in Columbus

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Central Ohio carpenters and millwrights are busier than ever with some of the most well-known organizations around town.  With ongoing projects for Ohio State Medical Center, Ohio State University, Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Facebook, Google, Amazon, Hilton  and more; members working in central Ohio will be plenty busy for the next five years plus.

If you’ve been to the Ohio Apprenticeship graduation, you know the Convention Center Hilton hotel.   To meet the needs of the growing city, Hilton is expanding to a second tower, known as Hilton 2.0.  The standalone tower will add another 463 guest rooms, making the total occupancy 1,000 rooms.  This will be Columbus’ first and only hotel of that size.  Area-members are working on the piling, micro-piling, concrete, metal studs, drywall, doors, acoustical ceilings and roofing.  The $210 million project is being completed with union carpenters and is expected to be opened by June 2022.

Representatives are kept busy recruiting from non-union job sites and career fairs while competing with the countless now hiring signs around town.  With huge projects approaching for both carpenters and millwrights, they are actively hiring experienced journeypeople and apprentices.

“It’s important our members know how effective their testimony is.  They’re the best organizers we’ve got”, Senior Representative Troy Woodyard said.  “They have inspiring stories to tell and we’re hoping everyone can do their part to grow our Brotherhood”.

If you know someone with experience or looking to get into our trades, visit www.ikorcc.com/contact to get in touch with us.