Category Archives: Building Trades

By Susan Elise Campbell

Carpenters Local Union 291 is not rapidly growing but has the potential to, according to its president, James Margiotta. Skilled union carpenters can make a six-figure income with benefits, and no vocational school education or even a high school diploma is required, he said.  

“Membership has been at the status quo the better part of the past 20 years,” said Margiotta, who has been a member of Local 291 for 25 years and in several of its elected positions for 11 years.

There are 1,600 members currently in 14 counties encompassing the Capital Region and North Country of New York. There are surges in membership at times but Margiotta said the union is “staying afloat because of a two-fold issue.”

“One reason growth isn’t as good as it could be is the ability to find skilled people that could command the wages that we negotiate for members,” he said. 

“There has also been an issue of finding younger people interested in starting this kind of career in the carpentry trade,” said Margiotta. 

By Christine Graf

It was while attending Paul Smith’s College in the Adirondacks that Darrah Land Surveying’s Kristin Darrah developed an interest in becoming a land surveyor. After meeting some neighbors who worked in the field, she changed her major from environmental studies to surveying technology.

“I had never even heard of land surveying,” said Darrah. “I observed them working on one of their projects– hand drafting a topographic map. I thought it was really interesting.”

The field of land surveying has a rich history, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln all having worked as land surveyors. The famous duo of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark created close to 140 maps while surveying the Louisiana Purchase and the Pacific Northwest.

Land surveying draws heavily on mathematical principles, the fundamentals of geometry being of particular importance, used to calculate angles, distances, and elevations.

By Paul Post

In the 1989 baseball classic, “Field of Dreams,” a mysterious voice tells character Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner), “If you build it, they will come.”

 These days, Kinsella might have a hard time finding the help he needs as a nationwide labor shortage continues to impact the building trades industry, a problem that’s especially acute in the Greater Capital Region.

 “There’s not nearly enough bodies to fill the openings,” said Chris Dudley, a heavy equipment instructor at the WSWHE BOCES center in Hudson Falls. “All the big employers like DA Collins and Peckham Materials are really hurting for heavy equipment operators, truck drivers and laborers. State, county and town highway departments are reaching out to us, looking to hire kids directly out of high school. They’ve never had to do that before. Everybody’s really having issues.”

 There are so few truck drivers that the state recently lowered the age for obtaining a Class A commercial drivers license from 21 to 18, allowing more young adults to drive tractor-trailers.

 A recent U.S. Labor Department study says there were 7.6 million unfilled trades jobs and only 6.5 million people looking for work.

By Christine Graf

At a time when local contractors are struggling to find qualified skilled trade workers, Local 773 Plumbers & Steamfitters has at least 40 qualified applicants anxious to join the union’s five-year apprenticeship program. 

The union represents more than 450 plumbers, pipe fitters, steam fitters, refrigeration fitters, and service technicians in Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Hamilton, Saratoga, Warren and Washington counties. The local headquarters is in Glens Falls.

“I am seeing no shortage, and I know that I can recruit the people I need because we pay a living wage,” said Mike Jarvis, business manager at Local 773. “People see that they will have a future with us. They know they will be treated right.”

Despite being overwhelmed with applicants, Local 773 has been able to accept just three people into the Glens Falls apprenticeship program so far this year. Jarvis expects that number to top out at six, with an additional three apprentices likely to be selected from another large applicant pool in Plattsburgh where the union has its second location, he said.

Expanding its apprenticeship program will be possible only if the union is able to secure additional signatory union contractors. 

In recent years, Jarvis and Brian Kill, business agent at Local 773, have been working to attract contractors from the residential and light commercial sectors. 

By Christine Graf

As the skilled labor shortage reaches an all-time high, educators and trade professionals are working to eliminate the widespread perception that vocational training is not a viable career paths for students of all academic levels. 

While a four-year college degree costs an average of $127,000, a trade school degree averages just $33,000. Although college graduates earn an average of $16,900 more than those working in the skilled trades, the pay gap is shrinking as companies pay higher salaries to fill open positions in various trades.

Data provided by the U.S. Department of Education indicates that workers with trade school training are slightly more likely to be employed than those with academic credentials. They are also more likely to be working in their field of study and less likely to be burdened by crippling college debt. The amount of student debt in the U.S. has surpassed $1.73 billion.

According to Mike Martell, assistant business manager at IBEW (International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers) 236, students and their parents no longer believe that college is the only option. 

Curtis Lumber has partnered with several local companies in the construction industry to help graduating seniors at WSWHE BOCES and Questar III BOCES in Career and Tech Ed programs. 

Curtis Lumber has spearheaded an effort to provide over 250 tool bags filled with some starter items in support of graduating seniors at  those schools who will be entering the workforce in the areas of  construction, heavy equipment, HVAC and welding. 

Participating companies include Belmonte Builders, Bennett Contracting, Callanan Industries, DeGraff Bloom Customer Builders, DA Collins, Hoosick Valley Contractors, Malta Development, Munter Enterprises, North Atlantic State Regional Council of Carpenters, Otterbeck Builders, Teakwood Builders, Trojanski Builders, Turner Construction, Weyerhaeuser, and Witt Construction.

The tool bags will be given to the students through the middle of June. 

“The trades are in desperate need of labor,” said Doug Ford, vice president at Curtis Lumber. “We wanted to do something to show our support and appreciation for students embarking on a career in the trades.”

The Washington-Saratoga-Warren-Hamilton-Essex BOCES has named Dr. Turina Parker as the new WSWHE BOCES district superintendent and chief executive officer.

Parker has been assistant superintendent for educational and support programs for the WSWHE BOCES. She is set to begin her official duties as district superintendent on Aug. 16.

She replaces James Dexter, who is retiring in August after 12 years of service to WSWHE BOCES. 

“Dr. Parker has demonstrated the ability to lead and work cooperatively across the region,” WSWHE BOCES President John A. Rieger said. “We are confident that Dr. Parker will build on our successes, fulfill our strategic plans, and provide a vision that will take the organization to the next level and provide even stronger support and opportunities for the education of our children and the school districts that we serve.”

With a career spanning 20 years, Parker is an experienced school district leader, with a passion for leading and supporting schools. She previously served as Director of Day Treatment and Principal at St. Catherine’s R. & E. May School in Albany, where her experience also included serving as the coordinator for curriculum and assistant principal. 

She has served as assistant superintendent for educational and support programs for the past 14 years, including serving as principal for special programs, executive principal, and executive director for educational and support programs. 

By Christine Graf

The nationwide skilled trade labor shortage has reached critical levels as baby boomers continue to retire. Baby boomers make up the majority of the skilled trade workforce, and there aren’t enough qualified younger workers to take their places, say people in the industry.

An estimated 31 million skilled trade workers retired in 2020, and many of those jobs remain unfilled. Sixty-two percent of companies report that they struggle to fill skilled trade labor positions.

“Ten thousand baby boomers are retiring every day. We have to bring in the next generation to fill those jobs,” said Dr. Jonathan Ashdown, dean of science, technology, engineering, and math at Hudson Valley Community College. “We’re doing everything we can at Hudson Valley to meet the demands for today in terms of helping to solve the skills gap issue.”

Local union representatives for International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 236 in Albany and UA Plumbers and Steamfitters Local 773 in Glens Falls report that their apprentice programs are in high demand. Both unions have long waiting lists for their multiple-year programs.

According to Mike Martell, assistant business manager at IBEW Local 236, they typically have hundreds of applicants for the approximately 50 spots that are available in their apprenticeship program each year. Union apprenticeships are typically in high demand because union jobs offer above average pay and benefit packages. Local 236 apprentices earn a starting wage of more than $17 an hour and receive an excellent benefit package.

HVCC plans to build a new $65 million facility for skilled trades education. The proposed 130,000-square-foot Applied Technology Education Center (ATEC) will allow the college to expand its training of the skilled technical workforce. Although the college continues to expand capacity, long waiting lists remain for many of their most popular programs.

By Jill Nagy

Area businesses are taking different approaches to deal with a shortage of skilled workers in the building trades.

Mr. Electric of Queensbury runs ads year round on several online help wanted sites. Eastern Heating and Cooling has a well-established apprenticeship program in order to “grow our own.” 

Jim Curran Electric in Saratoga Springs is a situation where the owner was rescued by a son who, seeing his father “overwhelmed,” relocated from Virginia to join the company.

Electricians are busy. “There is an avalanche of work,” according to Fred Giardinelli of Eastern Heating and Cooling. “Nine out of ten companies will give you the same answer: it’s “almost impossible” to find qualified people. 

Curran reported that he is “too busy to train somebody in the proper way.”  Mr. Electric also is “extremely busy.”

Curran, for his part, has soured on the idea of trying to hire and train new people.

“I used to try to hire people,” he said, “but they were not skilled enough.” 

People hired as apprentices often did not show up. At the other end of the spectrum, “if they get too trained, they go out on their own.”

He has been on his own for most of his 33 years in business. Since March, his son Jeff, a licensed electrician in Virginia, has been working with him and will soon become a partner in the business. Jeff and two other sons all worked with him as kids, he recalled, but the other two are following other career paths.