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Iron Workers use shovels, just this once Ground broken on new training facility

Date Posted: December 22 2006

Iron Workers Local 25 officers, Joint Apprenticeship Committee members and members of their contractors' association dug into their new digs on Nov. 30, during a soggy groundbreaking event at their new apprenticeship training facility in Wixom.

The 32,500-square-foot building will be located on a six-acre site off of Pontiac Trail, significantly expanding the room available for training. The existing Local 25 training center, located along I-96 in Livonia, has housed Local 25's educational programs since 1973.

"It's just a real tight site in Livonia for what we need to do," said Local 25 apprenticeship coordinator Mike Relyin. "The new building will give us a lot more flexibility. We will have three classrooms, vs. only one in Livonia. We will also have an indoor shop, including hands-on mock-ups for all facets of the iron working trade. Our current shop only offers in-shop training for welding."

Schonsheck, Inc. is managing the construction of the new building, which will be on a single level. Site work has already begun, and footings were expected to start going in this month. Mark Schafer, director of project development for Schonsheck, said the period between approving the concept of a new building, finding the site and then getting the construction process rolling, took about two years.

"I'm glad that we've been able to get to this point," said Bill Treharne of Midwest Steel, who chairs the Joint Apprenticeship Committee. "I really believe that this facility will improve the way we train our future workforce, which will allow us to better compete in the future."

A steady rain pelted attendees at the groundbreaking, which included representatives from the Michigan Building and Construction Trades Council, and contractor associations: the Great Lakes Fabricators and Erectors, the Metal Building Association, the Reinforcing Contractors and the Conveyor Association.

"The effort to bring us to where we are today was truly a joint effort with our contractors and associations, who played a big role in making this happen," said Local Business Manager Jim Hamric. "Without them, we're out of the game. So I'm really excited about this project, and I think it's a tremendous positive for the future of iron worker training."

AMONG THOSE HOLDING SHOVELS at the groundbreaking of the new Local 25 apprenticeship training facility are (l-r) Schonsheck's Mark Schafer, Local 25 BA and JAC member Bill Sennett, Local 25 Business Manager Jim Hamric and Bill Treharne of Midwest Steel.