The Mid-America Carpenters Union has new training facilities in Pekin for the next generation of union carpenters and millwrights.
An addition to the Training Center on Brenkman Drive adds about 15,000 square feet of classrooms, dormitories and workshop space for those going through the four-year apprenticeship program. Union representatives say the annex attached to the original training facility cost around $3 million, funded entirely from union membership.
Former director of the Pekin campus Rob Swegle oversaw the long planning and construction process. He said the facility will help train a class of more than 600 apprentices to meet a high demand from area contractors.
“They need skilled craftsmen out on those jobs,” Swegle said. “And the reason is that this is the best training facility to do it. Because all the resources are here to do it.”
Brandon Stetzler is taking Swegle’s place as the training coordinator. He said the apprenticeship program lasts four years before the carpenters become certified journeyman card carriers.
“They come to class four times a year, one a quarter for one week at a time,” Stetzler said. “They come in and do their different classes, whether it be scaffolding, concrete, roofs and so on.”
Apprentices spend the majority of the process out on the job.
“That’s where they’re going to find most of their skills,” Stetzler said. “But we introduce them to new things, new projects, new equipment, new materials and tools while they’re here in the facility, to be able to better facilitate that out on the field.”
State and local officials attended a dedication of the new annex Friday.
State Senator Dave Koehler stressed the importance of union labor and quality work in Illinois amid ongoing construction projects funded by the capital bill. Pekin Mayor Mary Burress highlighted the benefits of having skilled carpenters living and working in the community.
“It makes our community grow and the quality that they are taught to push onto a new home or a business they are building, it’s outstanding,” she said. “It’s outstanding for the community.”
The Mid-American Carpenters Union Training Center in Pekin serves as the training destination for three carpenter locals: 237 in Peoria, 270 in Springfield and 243 in Champaign. The region covers 41 counties.
Stetzler said anyone interested in becoming an apprentice can pick up an application from the training facility at 904 Brenkman Drive.
