Apprenticeship training - Carpenters

So please explain Dave.

It could be a dentist or a foot doctor. They're both doctors, but they have different specialties. So our carpenters were all trained in their particular craft.

So we like to have them select at the time of they apply to our program at which craft they want to continue on through. Okay.

Uh , we currently work through two different colleges and you earn college credits coming through a program and we are a carpenter college and it's a tuition free carpenter college. There's no, there's some minor startup cost . I wouldn't say any cost is minor startup cost to the apprentice once they enter into our program.

And then it's a four year program , um, little different than most , um , colleges or schools you come in approximate to our training centers once a quarter four to five weeks per year. The rest of the time you're on the job, earning a living wage. And again, at the end of the apprenticeship program, you become a journey worker and it is tuition free.

So there's no debt when you complete our program, you've actually earned a substantial amounts of money depending on what part of the state you're in with the different CBAs.

Uh, these things like are so their , their machine is for mechanics, but they've fallen into the carpenter's umbrella mama Powell driver, typically one of the first carpenters on a job site. If the soil can support a poured concrete foundation, it's unstable. So the pile drivers would come in and drive different types of piling into the grind .

So the structure of the building could be erected on top of that when the , the pallet could be H pilings or steel pilings for someone or concrete pilings, or another example would be, if you go to a fishing pier and you see wood pilings driven into the Lake , so you can go out and do your fishing. That's what supporting the top deck of that platform going on the fishing pier.

So that's a pile driver, a floor covers, they cover flooring , uh , anything that's on the floor, other than terrazzo or ceramic tile. And I mean, carpeting rolled carpeting, carpet, squares, vinyl, composition, tile, or VCT , uh, sheet goods, hardwood flooring , uh, that's our floor cover program. And they do other items too, but just really can't get into every detail that they actually install. Um , our commercial carpenters , it's our biggest volume of apprentices currently.

And we do everything on a commercial building from the Fondation foot , putting the forms in on the foundation to handing the keys over to the owner at the end and everything in between, which would be drywall metal, studs, acoustical, tile, ceilings, installing your doors and door hardware, installing the casework, which is your cabinetry office furniture systems, scaffold erection. The volume of work, the commercial carpenter performs is very extensive.

Uh, we also have our mill cabinet program, not confused with the mill rights, but the mill cabinet program is for high school student , a cabinet shop , uh, installing, creating architectural woodwork from cabinetry to booth seating for restaurants , um , to paneling on walls, Boyd , doors, anything in an architect and specifies finished casework. And that's what a milk cabinet apprentice or carpenter will be performing.

Uh , last one or the next one I would say is our heavy highway program and Southwestern PA, we have quite a few bridges in Southwestern PA and these bridges need maintained and correct . And not only in Southwestern PA, but through the state of Pennsylvania. So our heavy highway carpenters install work on bridges, large concrete projects, such as dams, sewage treatment, plants, water treatment, plants, concrete, retaining walls, things of this nature.

That's what a heavy highway carpenter would be installing or building up in the workforce.

And we're not talking about math, it's applied math, it's, you know, basic, quite honestly, addition, multiplying, dividing how to figure out areas, square footage. If you're looking into trigonometry, that would become once. You're a journeyman where you're working with a total station and doing some layout, but this is a first year apprentice .

You're not going to be expected to know every craft of that particular carpentry program that you're in , uh, it's fundamentals , um , print reading , uh, safety , uh, the tools and materials and supplies that you're going to be using on the job site. And as I mentioned earlier, the program is an earn. As you learn program, come to portray ranks in approximately four to five weeks per year.

You're here Monday through Friday, the rest of the time, you're on a job, and you're learning your craft working side by side with a journeyman carpenter or possibly a fourth year apprentice who has some very good skills. Also, I'm trying to mentor this new member, this new apprentice into the skills of the trade and the centers are based throughout Pennsylvania, correct. The one center, our biggest centers in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

We have central Pennsylvania, which is our Duncansville area, which is near Altoona. And our third training center is Lebanon training center, which is East of Harrisburg. So that's our three centers. There are two other centers in the state of Pennsylvania. They are under not underneath a different training fund. We have a center in Allentown, Pennsylvania. We have one in Northeastern, Philadelphia, but they're not underneath the jurisdiction of the training fund that I see.

So the first year you're getting a lot of safety and some classwork and some hands on work. Are there certain traits when you see young apprentices, a young first year, you're like that, guy's got it. You know, that that person, that guy or girl has it, you know, they're going to be successful in their career.

Well, you know , you know, we do have an attrition rate just like any anyone else, but quite honestly, from a first year apprentice in their first week of training to an apprentice in his fifth week of training, his first year, my pass was, I was an instructor before I became in the position I'm in. Now you can see the difference in that individual, in that year's time. So the on job training is fantastic training.

It's, you know, we can teach them the fundamentals in the weeks that we have them here, but you can really notice the difference between a fresh first year apprentice to an apprentice. That's getting ready to move on to second level Prentice .

And quite honestly, once they reach fourth year Prentice, if I, you know, I've seen the apprentice from day one to the data graduated and it's night and day, the transition between the skill level that they've achieved over those past four years, it's probably great to see that growth, you know, in person. So be honest with it .

It was very satisfying, John , as instructor, I kind of missing that, but when it , when this , the apprentice actually grasp hold of the concept, you can see in their face and be honest, but that was so rewarding to see, you know, we're laying out a rafter for an example, and there's a lot of math to rafters based on pathetic drum theory, you know, right. Triangles. There's some math involved with it. And when they, when they finally catch it, you know, some guys struggle.

Some guys pick up really quick when gals, cause we have both, we have young ladies in our program and men , um, you can really, you can see in their face. And then they're eager to say, I want to try it again and I'll give them a different dimension to lay out and say, all right , let's try another rafter laid on cut. And let's see what you do. It's very, very rewarding on the instructor's part. It really is. Yeah. I could see that. That's great.

Yeah. So you mentioned, Oh , I'm sorry, Steve or Chris, you have something Dave.

And that's how we rank our applicants in a selection process. So every application applicant has a ranking after they complete that. Once they're selected into our program, they come in for what's called a week of pre job orientation. And within that first week of pre job orientation, the Prentice comes in or the applicant comes in and they get some safety that week and OSHA 10, some fundamentals. And by the end of the week, again, I'm sure I mentioned it, but we are drug free program.

They have to pass that drug test. And after the week, if they pass that test, then they become a member of organization. They sign up as a first year apprentice. After that, that following Monday or even possibly Saturday, they can go out to work and they start on depending on the area of the state, anywhere from $15 an hour to $19 an hour, starting the first day on the job with nothing under their belt, other than a pre pre job orientation week.

And then they start developing and learning the skills paired up with, again, the journeyman carpenter, you know, and we have ratios should be three to one ratio for journeymen to an apprentice for safety reasons.

We do not require a driver's license, but we highly recommend the applicant to have a driver's license because in our industry we're going to be traveling. It could be close , it could be somewhat of a distance, but we require them to be drug free, high school diploma, GED or equivalent, a valid photo government ID. And the key is an eagerness to learn the willingness to learn positive attitude, punctual you're basically some people refer to them as soft skills.

I consider them professional skills. I don't believe those skills are soft whatsoever. I think they're fundamental core skills that everybody is looking for in any profession. Uh , someone is punctual on time, you know, personable, positive attitude, I guess, is what the term I'm looking for. Someone with a very positive attitude.

Um, the math skills we're looking at in school, you know, I'm gonna encourage anyone in high school to take some math classes or participate in a career technology center or some short , um, shop classes. If you're hands on type of person, maybe college is not the future for you. But I believe the building trades is definitely an opportunity for solid rewarding career .

So in 30, 40 years, when you retire, you can retire with some dignity and you have a pension. It's something to look forward to, you know, that's put away for you. That's paid on top of your wages, not taken out of your wages. It's an additional benefit on top of your base pay per hour.

We call them , um , new products that may arrive on the market, new tools, new equipments , new systems. So we offer journeyman upgrade classes or journey worker , upgrade classes for the rest of your career. Again, no time or no money out of your pocket. Your time. Of course, you have to come in on Saturdays or any evening and take his additional classes.

We also offer in our third year to our apprentices, additional classes at CCAC men , H H uh , Harrisburg area, Harrisburg area, community college at HACC is that's all you say, and you can take additional classes for , um, uh, an associates degree. You can earn an associate's degree in construction estimating or construction supervision. So again, the tuition for those additional classes have paid through by the carpenter's JTC. So there's knowing cost to that member would be books and supplies.

We won't pay for that. Once you take those college courses, but we will pick up the tuition that's required. Um, and as far as the leadership classes, we offer formal training classes, our international training center in Las Vegas, as superintendent training classes that members can be sent to , uh, to go out there and learn how to become a superintendent. We have collaborative leadership classes available.

Um, we have third year apprentice programs, which called the building are , Oh, shoot, what's the ex official title.

Uh, we have several classes , um, that we, that can be taken , uh , international training center in Las Vegas. So the education does not end in four years. You know , we encourage every apprentice at the time to come in for the skill enhancement classes. Plus they also need to , uh , refresh some of their certifications and qualifications. They do have expirations dates. OSHA, for example, does not an OSHA 10 or OSHA.

30 does not expire currently in the state of PA some other States they do, but in a power industrial trucks, certification, or scaffold erection certification or qualification , um , Iqra infection control, risk assessment, or best practices expires in four years. So they have to come back and refresh , uh , for the simple fact that things change in four years. What you, what you learned there may be some advancements in that technology that you have to come in and be retrained.

So again, the training does not end after four years.

So attitude is key. Um, you know, and that really is, it really is key, you know, and what your passion is. And if you want to succeed, we can present everything. We have the offer in front of you, but there is an internal mechanism within our applicants or apprentices that they need to succeed. And that that's something that unfortunately I can't teach, or I don't think any of us can, I think it has to come internally.

So that's , uh , another key thing that I think was really important what you said.

You know, we're not going to be just sitting around, waiting for something to do. Our contractors are expecting us to perform, and we consider ourselves professionals. We need to act and perform as professionals. If we're going to demand a professional wage. Absolutely. And the training's free. So you don't want to bring someone in that. Is it going to be able to be hired and used by one of your signatory contractors? Correct? Yeah, absolutely. That's a good point.

The way, you know, our funding is, you know, it's tuition free, but it is a cost to the JTC, but it's , um, it is a joint training committee. And our R did JTC is joint apprenticeship training committee, which means we work together with our contractors. The contractors are, are the ones who are helping with the contributions into our training fund . So it is a cost is somebody. And in the end is the contractors and the current working members.

So it's free to our apprentices, but it is a cost to us. But our contractor associations and us are international. The UBC knows that to make a very qualified carpenter, journeymen. This is what needs to happen, proper training. And it's a cost we're willing to work with you guys on because of the scale and the expertise that you're producing at the training center. So it's , it's well worth. It's very valuable. It's well worth it. So keep up the great work. Thanks.

How about before we finish here? One more plug. What's that website again here it's Keystone mind lakes, carpenters training fund. So KML, ctf.org. Um , the website has been live now for 11 months actually, and it doesn't matter what this podcast, but it's actually shut down right now until January 1st for applications. You can go onto the site and check it out. But the application process, I'm revamping the application process. Again, we're applying online 24 seven, three 65 from anywhere.

There's no fee for application, but it's going to be shut off until January 1st. I'm adding the videos on. So when they click on commercial carpenter, you have to watch the video for you, continue to apply. If you click on a mill , right, you have to watch a two minute video before you can apply. So you apply, put your name, address information.

And when you go to click on the craft, video pops up and you have to watch that two minute video or three minute video before you continue with the application to make sure that you're applying to the craft that you want to apply to. Cause a lot of folks are unfamiliar with what all the six crafts are. So I got a sense from , uh , Chris's , uh , questions that he's a little excited about this. So Chris, you have to wait until first, or you can give it a little time.

I know anybody can, you know, like I said, you can go to the website, but you can't apply. But you know, the , the online application process is , uh , I believe it has been very successful for us here. We've really increased our applications. And again, we don't charge a fee for our applications where some building trades do charge a fee to apply, and we take applications year round, like I said, three 65 , 24 seven.

I mean the quality of training , uh , job site environments, it's , it's so much, so much better if anyone wants to be a carpenter, but might be a little biased, but I'm going to say you need to apply to the KMO carpenters training fund, where your dedication definitely shows through when, when you speak with you and then talk, you know , hang out with you. And , uh , you do a great job, so just keep it up. Oh , thank you. It's nice to hear some positive. Usually I hear stuff it's negative .

I'm I'm breaking my cherry here. Sorry, but awesome . This is my first podcast, but I'm sure what it meant. Yeah . Well, thank you for your time here. This is good stuff here. You did a great job, Dave , for your first time. Thank you. Alright . Well , well , thanks Chris. Thanks, John . And Hey fellows , have a happy holiday, Merry Christmas and happy new year and be safe out there. You as well. I'll see you out. All right . See you guys. Yeah, I'm seeing all mine .