Staff file photos / R. Michael Semple This photo from April 2023 shows Ironworkers with Local 207 in Youngstown rig a 26,000-pound structural steel I-beam that is part of the new wellness / recreation center at Warren G. Harding High School.

This photo that originally appeared in the Building Trades Apprenticeship & Career Guide shows apprentice Justice Hollerich of Niles at the Sheet Metal Workers Local 33 training center in Boardman.

“Right at this particular moment, we’re a little bit slow,” Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 396 Business Manager Marty Loney said in March. “But we have several different projects coming up.”

PROJECTS

At Trumbull Energy Center, a more than $1 billion natural gas-fired power plant that’s under construction in Lordstown, Loney said, “We’ll probably have 50 or 60 fitters out there” in the next few months.

Another large project, but one that’s still in the wings, is an expected manufacturing plant at the former Republic Steel site in Trumbull County. Kimberly-Clark, a Fortune 200 company that makes consumer products under brands like Kleenex, Cottonelle, Huggies, Kotex and Depends, purchased 560 acres at the site in December for $9.9 million from the Western Reserve Port Authority.

“That one is probably going to see heavy construction in 2025, when they start clearing land, once they get approval from their board of directors,” said Loney, who also is chairman of the port authority board.

A project that is providing good work to skilled trades is the new wellness / recreation center at Warren G. Harding HIgh School. The $36.1 million, 120,000-square-foot facility is expected to be completed this year.

Tony DiTommaso, financial secretary for the Western Reserve Building Trades and senior representative for the Central-Midwest Regional Council of Carpenters, said the Mercy Health-Lifepoint Behavioral Hospital project is “coming along pretty well.

The 75,000-square-foot facility will be on Belmont Avenue in Liberty.

“Briarfield is putting that assisted living location in Columbiana County,” he said. “That is moving along pretty well. So, there’s a lot going on and we’re looking to see more of it toward the end of the year.”

As for two proposed industrial parks, one, the North Jackson Commerce Park on Mahoning Avenue and West Warren Development at the former Westlawn neighborhood in Warren, DiTommaso said, “we’re hoping to see some shovels in the ground there.”

“Also for the new gate out at the 910 Airlift Wing, more work out at the airport, we’re hoping to see all that stuff moving,” he said.

STATE OF BUILDING TRADES

The demand for carpenters, electricians, pipefitters, operators and other trades is steady, which is why the unions have expanded their recruitment efforts over the last 10 years. While baby boomers continue to retire, vacant roles are being filled more frequently by young professionals in construction.

DiTommaso, also financial secretary for Carpenters Local 171 in Youngstown, said, “There’s a steady flow of work” for the trades in Trumbull and Mahoning counties, “but we’re happy to see more interest from the younger members of our Valley.”

DiTommaso said the trades are trying to grow their apprenticeship program by working with the educational service centers in Trumbull and Mahoning counties, and there are positive results from a trades career fair held in September at the Canfield Fairgrounds.

In recent years, DiTommaso said the United Brotherhood of Carpenters uses CareerConnections, adopted by many schools, as a pre-apprenticeship program.

“They use the curriculum to get them credits toward graduation,” DiTommaso said. “But it also helps us find those students with the soft skills necessary to get started in our apprenticeship programs.”

SHEET METAL

Jesse Wright is the business representative for Sheet Metal Workers Local 33 Union in Youngstown.

“Our workforce is somewhat aging and we’ve seen a lot of retirements over the last few years, coupled with larger projects in the area,” Wright said. “So, there is more opportunity for us to take apprentices and other skill workers out there.”

The union has had about 15 retirements over the last few years, but it tries to attract 10 to 20 apprentices per year.

“It’s just kind of a domino effect in a positive direction, for HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) as well,” Wright said. “We’re a multi-faceted craft. We do commercial and residential HVAC, and we also do any architectural residential sheet metaling. And one of the things that is unique with the sheet metal workers is that we make everything ourselves.”

ELECTRICIANS

Part of what International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Locals 573 in Warren and 64 in Youngstown are doing to interest young people in the trades is to introduce apprenticeship programs on platforms where they are active.

“We do a lot with social media to try to get the trades out there, because a lot of kids might not know about the apprenticeship programs,” Tod Ambrose, business manager for International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers 573, said.

“I know that it’s discussed more in the technical centers like MCCTC (Mahoning County Career and Technical Center) and TCTC (Trumbull Career and Technical Center), and at the trades fair in Canfield, getting close to 5,000 kids over those couple days. So as of right now, we don’t really have an issue getting people into the apprenticeship. We have plenty of people who apply.”

Ambrose suggested that many jobs in the area seem to be long-term, at the moment.

“Some of these projects sound like they’re going to be multi-year, and will hire a significant number of trades people, from all types of trades,” he said.

OPERATORS

Brian Wydick, field agent for Operating Engineers Local 66 of Youngstown, said the work scope for operators throughout the Valley “seems to be pretty busy if everything kicks off.”

“Especially the Kimberly-Clark paper mill, and then with road and bridge work, this is starting to be our busier part of the year, from April 1 through Thanksgiving,” he said.

Operators are also working on several other projects, including a new Mercy Health Rehabilitation Hospital on Belmont Avenue that broke ground last year, an Aldi’s in Canfield, Discount Drug Mart in Columbiana and an expansion at Millwood, Inc. in Vienna.

“We’re always appreciative of the private businesses that are utilizing the trades,” Wydick said.