Welcome to the building PA podcast. I am sitting here with , uh , John O'Brien my partner. My name is Chris Martin. I'm with Atlas marketing. Good morning. How's it going? Good, good morning. And I am with Ron Stefanik . Well, I should say we are with Stefanik. Who's the apprenticeship coordinator with the plasterers and cement masons, correct? I apologize. Yep . So Ron, tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got here. Okay .
I was taught by the greatest generation. That was my uncles who came back from the second world war and they were such an influence on me because they were my heroes. So naturally I listened to the stories every night at that dinner table. Um, even though mom wanted me to go to college, I did go to college and I got my degree, but that inside of me still said I wanted to do construction.
So lo and behold, after all these years, 40 years as a cement Mason, but totally 51 years, because I started out of the labor out of Katanning in 1952 . So that's where I'm at at this point in my life.
That is so I love how you, you talk about the greatest generation and , and , and how you got here in terms of the influence from your uncles. That's great because we know that that is very typical in the construction industry. Um, so what, what made you choose to become a cement Mason? Okay. So
The thing about it is , um, at the time that I graduated or whatever, that's when the Pittsburgh in the steel industry was in a downturn and, and we didn't have the Renaissance yet, like we had today. So it was very easy for me to, I started off with , uh , with an office job with Babcock and Wilcox, and I, I knew that making out checks and doing time sheets, wasn't my cup of tea.
I had to be out there with the excitement , uh, sounds construction and a beep beep beeps and all that kind of stuff. So I followed my heart and I fallen. Um, my mum passed away and my dad was still in the industry. And I said, no greater thing to be able to work with your father. So that's , that's why I evolved into that. Uh, the cement makes it , my dad would have been electrician or whatever. I would have followed them that way because he was my hero.
And that's why I chose to stay with the , uh , you know, the concrete end of it. So it , because of my father
And , and , and I liked that too, because all the unions that we work with and say with John and the KCA and everything, everybody has that family story. And that's the nice thing about the union side of , of construction is , is that, that brother, that bond, that, that, Hey tomorrow, I'm going to put my arm around you. We're going to show you how to do this. So you're not going to fail. And , and I, and I can , you know , as
The apprenticeship coordinator, that's part of what you're doing, you know , on a daily basis. Exactly, exactly. Um, how, how long did it take you to become the apprenticeship coordinator? Well , um, it was actually , uh, okay. About 30 years I was in the field. Okay. And , uh, so I've been an apprentice coordinator for going on nine, actually going on 10 years.
So if you, if you take the 10 from the, the 40 years of concrete and simple math, that that's, that's about what I was out and field for about 30 years. Um, doing, doing floors, doing chimneys, doing well, you name it exposed me to a lot of different things over the years, so who better to teach the , uh, the , the next generation, right?
Yeah. Yeah. And, and as long as the passion is still there, as long as the passion, and then there's such an opportunity for these young people today, that it's unbelievable. And I want to make sure that, you know, I always say on my tombstone, I want it to be Ron, did everything he could to perpetuate unionism on planet earth and on , I'll be happy that these young kids followed my path. Right. That's great. Great.
Very good. Speaking of a young kids , um, that's, let's reach out to them and let's talk, that's focused on them for a little bit. So like what what's , what can they expect if they wanted to be a cement Mason? Like what's a cement Mason do nowadays, what's the training, like , uh , just kinda touch on them a little bit.
Okay. So we look at, you have to, you have to be like an active type person and , um , we don't make you take a test, but we, when I interview, I want to see that sort of, I, I need that look in your eyes that says, yeah, I'm an outdoors person. I played a team sport because concrete is a team activity. It's just like playing football or whatever. I'm looking for somebody that is not afraid of a challenge every day.
You're going to get challenged with the wind, the rain, the snow , um, and , uh , the batching plant and all these things you have to , you can't be that kind of place , a complacent person that says, Oh, you know what , um, you know, I don't want that kind of challenge. So I look at all these different things. Um, some of them are students, aren't ACE students.
They're C B students, but that doesn't hold them back from not being dynamite workers, because a lot of them really didn't like school, you know? And now I don't hold that because some of my best workers are C and D students. So, so , uh, I want to make sure I give them that opportunity. Maybe I don't see, maybe they don't see something right away, but I get them out in the field and all of a, that light bulb comes on and it's like, and that's already happened to me.
So , uh, so we give them every opportunity to spread their wings and flying at the business, especially now when we all need workers that are willing to work and , um , and , uh, get a sustainable income, families is standing income for , uh , you know, and so that , that's what we look for.
Absolutely. Absolutely. So is there anything a high school student could do now while they're in school to prepare to become a cement Mason?
Well, yeah. Would we interview , um, I normally have , uh , uh, uh, somebody from one of the, either the , um, heavy highway or the builders , uh , trade that comes over and what we look at, we look at attendance, we look at, you know , uh , that's a big thing because that shows that demonstrates the , um, the, the ability to want to learn. And if I get an apprentice out there and if he's bucking me all the time and he doesn't want to listen, well, then he's not gonna learn.
So that's, I, I tell them , um, naturally it's good to , um, you know, have good math skills in science skills, but that's not, that's not a big thing in our business because, you know, we're going to electrician to Ryan workers. We're, we're making calculations all the time. We're more or less the type of guys that are like , um, you know, I got girls in our custom cross-country skiers, and I got guys that are traders in a gym that was very active people that can sit still.
That's what, that's what I want to see. Uh, as a young person, you know, no complacency because there's no, there's no room for complacency when that paving machine starts going, you gotta , you have to be able to run with it and know that you're that kind of person, that this is my challenge for today, and this is what I want to do, and I'm not going to get beat up, you know? So that's what we're really,
What have you seen over the , over your 10 years as the training director, as far as the type of the type of , uh , people that are entering the program, people looking to get into the program, have you seen a shift at all as the economy has changed over the last 10 years?
Absolutely. Uh , first of all, we preach, kill my , like my mum used to say, till we're blue in the face, cleats you kid . So we preached to the guidance counselors in the high schools, and we say, listen , um, you know, everybody wants their child to go to college, but yet there's students out there that Rowan college material that want to work with their hands. And so please encourage them if they don't want to go to college.
I don't want them sitting at home watching reruns of going in dial-in in her mom's basement. And I want them to know that the building trades 16 of us there aren't workers, boiler, America, cement, masons, on and on, and whatever that they're going to be able to come in there and we're going to , we're going to embrace them and tell them, yes, we need warm bodies. We need people.
And you're the, if you're the type of person that wants a work, we're going to show you how to make family-sustaining wages. And it's a very warm situation that , um, you know, all the ethnic groups of females or whatever, everybody has an opportunity. Unlike it's ever been in my 40 years, it's never been like this . It's like, you know, when we're, we're begging them , people that say, come on, you know , and join the trades. And , uh, so that's, that's, it's so exciting.
And right now it's , it's off the chart. As far as like these Cracker plants, heavy highway, there is a there's we need to do so many bridges in so many ways, like two years ago , um, Pennsylvania , if he did we'd repair 600 bridges in so much time. So, so all of a sudden the money's there and we're going to deal with
Absolutely. Yeah. It's a very, very exciting time for the industry, for sure. So , uh, yeah, you find, you know, a high school, high school grad he's motivated, he's excited. He wants to work out in the field. What's what's he to expect the first year when it comes to training. And I heard a little rumor, you guys earn while you learn, so you might want to throw that in there too. Uh, but yeah, what , what's the first year to expect?
Okay. The first year kids, what we do is we take , put them through a pre-apprenticeship for two weeks. Pre-apprenticeship , uh , we make sure they have OSHA 10, so they're safe. We make sure they have CPR, a D and uh , first day , um, we take them out that week. We show them how to pound pins set forms. We're not gonna , they're not going to be home, run hitters in two weeks, but they're not going to be like a deer in the headlights either. They're good , but we get their toe in the water.
So then after two weeks, we put them on the auto work list. And then our contractors, our signatory contractors, we encourage them. Here's young people. Uh , we need to get them to work.
And , uh, so , uh, as June and July and August comes and we, we, we place these apprentices with , uh, the signatory contractors, whether it be heavy highway or building trade , and then that's their opportunity to learn in real time, not just in a classroom setting, but in real time, all the sights and sounds, and smells and everything that's involved in being on the job. That's the beauty of apprenticeship.
And in that pre-apprenticeship period, a two week period, are they mostly in the , the classroom versus
On the job? Which again, on John's question, what can they expect there?
What we, what we do is we'll about the first week we, we, we make them safe. Okay. We get them in a classroom. Then the second week we'll go to like , um, um, there might be a contractor out there that needs a section of driveway poured at his facility. Um, we have , uh, we have , uh, a place down in Millville, Pittsburgh, mobile that , um, he batches, he has a batching trucks and he'll batch us 20 yards of concrete or whatever. And we'll pour a section there. He always has something to poor.
So that second week we actually take them on a job set forms and create real time, you know? Uh, and , uh, so the date so that they have a real idea of , um, uh, just not, we first start them out in wet sand, just like you do. And at the beach, we start them off at wet sand and , and show them exactly how to straight edge, how to edge and everything. And then, and then the next step is you . And then like, like that's what we do the second week. We'll find him something to pour .
And , um , and sometimes we'll even do community stuff like , um, uh, dugouts and little league field, or a set of steps or something like that, something that , um, uh, for a nonprofit , for profit organization. Perfect. Perfect. Yeah .
Yeah . With that said, what are some of the requirements that if I'm, if I'm a high school senior hearing you talk or saying, Hey, wait a second. I really want to do an adult blog to this. What do I need to do to , to get involved?
Okay, first of all, we cover 33 counties. So we're not going to send you to one place to where you can get on a bus and go to work for the next 30 years. So we tell you, you have to have a driver's license, very, you know, and then you have to have access to , uh , an automobile. Sometimes these young people, they don't have any money yet.
So grandma has a car, a grandfather has a car, as long as we, as long as we have some sort of ownership that says, yeah, you know, an owner's card, it says they have the ability to go to work , um, social security card. Absolutely. They have to have it. Um, we can take your applications before they're 18 and get all the preliminaries done, but we can't send them to work till they're 18.
So that's a , you know, we can train them, we can get them ready, but then that , then by June, the first after we get done with pre-apprenticeship in , uh , April, then they have to be ready. And , uh, and , uh , you have to have a high school diploma or GED. And , uh, and so , uh , we tell them, work on this. So it's all out of the way. So there's no roadblocks or obstacles to us getting you into the , uh , the workforce.
And like you said, it's a great time to get in. So I don't know why you wouldn't,
Let me leave you with this thought. Um, so two , you asked , so I asked myself, why did I decide to do this? I remember, I remember when I was in Catholic school, the nuns wanted me, they said, I liked dark and you wanted to be an artist. Well, now I tell my, these young people that when I'm going to , um, career fairs and stuff like that, I say our portrait is on the ground. Okay .
My portrait is that concrete comes out of the truck and it looks like mother's oats or whatever at the end of the day, there's, there's, there's your portrait. And , uh, and so that's the excitement of being, I look at myself as an artist. Um, if I'm going to do your driveway or if I'm going to do , um, you want to see some words street, go to Las Vegas and you'll see , uh, you'll see, pervious concrete, you'll see , uh , colored concrete, you'll see polished concrete.
And that's just one example of , um, the beauty of what we could do with something to I've got at a truck in the morning. So that's what always floated my boat as far as , um, taking something and developing a portrait. And , uh, so it's, it's that wow, that I do that at the end of the day, you know? And , uh , and if you have the right team and mother nature , um, uh, support you as far as the beautiful day, no rain, no wind, all that kind of stuff.
Then everything gets falls in line and it's like, then you're, you know, you're happy, you know, you're yeah. On a scale of one to 10, we always shoot for a 10. And so all those different things have to line up mother nature in a batching plant , uh, the correct amount of team work, you know, and so on and so forth. And then it's like, yeah, I did my homework and everything's great. So that's it , every day is a challenge every day.
And you have to have that kind of person that's willing to accept that challenge. Just like it's like the Steelers are playing somebody, you put your home on the new , you gotta be ready to go. That's the way our industry is. And , um, yeah , I really love what you just said though, about how you were at you coming out of high school, you were in art, you liked art . You were really there, and you can apply that to the cement masons and your line of work.
So any, any high school, senior high school, junior out there, boy or girl, she can relate to that. And I think that's important to help some of the younger kids now understand that you're not going to go out on the job site and just be this nonstop hammer nails, and doing all these things. There's an art form to it. There is a beauty to it. So thank you for sharing that. I think that's great. That's really good .
No, the market's good. And the cement masons are looking for a future artist . So look them up
Like that.
And if you're interested in becoming a cement , uh, artists reach out to our friend here, Ron Stefanik , uh, how , how can we, how can kids get ahold of you?
Okay. Um, first of all , um, we have a website it's OPC Mia, five to six.org. Okay. And you can also look on the builder's Guild or apprentice order , but the builders Guild of Western Pennsylvania, it's very elaborate. And they , they, and they highlight all the trades. So , so if I get a young person that maybe not sure of wanting to be at cement, Mason, I just say, listen, we want you in our union family. So, and we want you to follow your heart.
So make yourself happy and pick one of the trades. If I'm not one of them, I still feel you're in good hands because there's no bad picks in the builders, go to Western Pennsylvania, none. You know what? You're in. Good hands.
That's true. True. That is true. Great advice for , uh , our young, our young folks who are considering a construction trade . So thank you. Thank you. Well, thank you for joining us today on the building PA podcast and Ron, thank you for stopping by. I appreciate it. Thanks a lot, Ron , and tune into our next podcast. Uh , again, that's building PA podcast and have a great day. Thank you.