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IKORCC Hosts Women’s Workshop

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The IKORCC Diversity Committee hosted its first Women’s Workshop in Greenwood, IN, on June 24th, 2023. This event was created to give local women the tools and inspiration to do hands-on projects themselves and not be afraid to lead the way while doing so.

Speakers included local leading women, giving their testimonies on what it means to be a woman in leadership positions. Co-founder and owner of Two Chicks and a Hammer, from HGTV’s Good Bones, Mina Starsiak Hawk, spoke on her entrepreneurial start in home renovation and her success with the local housing market near downtown Indianapolis.

Local politicians Deb Whitfield, Ali Brown, Michelle Davis, and Lt. Governor Suzanne Crouch gave the attendees a look into why running for office, no matter your background, age, or gender, is important for your community. Sarah Walker and Molly Burns spoke on their experiences in the construction industry, along with Dr. Rebecca Estes from the Indiana Department of Education, with the same goals of educating, promoting, and empowering women in the workforce.

 

Following the speakers, guests visited our training center, where they experienced hands-on workshops. The workshop opportunities included repairing a hole in drywall, reading a tape measure, hanging a shelf, changing door hardware, installing flooring, and more. IKORCC members and apprentices taught the attendees valuable yet simple do-it-yourself skills that all people could benefit from learning. Each workshop was taught with industry standards and safety precautions to ensure the attendees would carry on those new skills safely at home.

Overall, it was a great day for local women, not only to learn new skills and about the IKORCC, but also to network with some leading women in the area.

405 Graduate from IN/KY Apprenticeship Program

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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.

16 Veterans Graduate through Helmets to Hardhats

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.

Continuous Training Sets Union Carpenters Apart

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.”

A New Generation of Journeymen & Journeywomen

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:

Sisters Gather Donations for Local Foster Home

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Local 175 and Industrial Local 2501 out of Louisville are working together to gather donations for an area foster home. Uspiritus is a foster home working to “provide greater care for vulnerable children and families throughout the Commonwealth of Kentucky”.

The Local Sisters are combining efforts to collect daily necessities and a Christmas list to support the foster home.  Local 175 SIS Chair Amanda Wigge and Co-Chair Meah Jessup and Local 2501 SIB Chair Shannon Porter and Elaine Osorio visited Target to set up a registry for the charity drive.

“It’s all about giving back to the community or those in need – letting them know that we’re here for them”, Shannon Porter told IKORCC about setting up this drive.

Local Sisters shopping for donations.

Some everyday items in need include:

  • Toilet paper
  • Clorox wipes
  • Deodorant
  • Shampoo
  • Body wash
  • Twin sheet sets
  • Diapers
  • Socks
  • Boxers
  • Birthday candles

The Christmas wish list includes gifts such as:

  • Action figures
  • Hot wheels
  • Legos
  • Batteries
  • Bath body sets
  • Gas gift cards
  • Watches
  • Comic books
  • Posters

If you would like to help support these efforts, you can visit: http://www.target.com/gift-registry/gift/SIBS1752501. You can ship donations to the Louisville Training Center at 1245 Durrett Lane, Louisville, KY 40213. 

The last day to donate through this IKORCC charity drive will be December 9th, 2019.

Learn more about Uspiritus here: http://uspiritus.org/about/history-mission/.

Local Sisters setting up target charity registry.

IKORCC Sisters Motivated After UBC Conference

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Nearly 500 sisters from across the U.S. and Canada met at the International Training Center in Las Vegas for the Sisters in the Brotherhood Conference last month.

Sisters from the IKORCC were able to have their questions answered by General President Douglas McCarron – a rare opportunity our sisters took advantage of. They also heard from renowned guest speakers, attended workshops, traded ideas and most importantly learned how they could help grow the sisterhood.

A month later, our sisters are actively applying what they learned on job sites, at local meetings and in their everyday life to grow the sisterhood. See what they learned and how they are applying it below or by clicking here.