ASSOCIATED SHEET METAL TAKES PART IN SUCCESSFUL APPRENTICE PROGRAM

Associated Sheet Metal, Inc., of Jackson currently has three apprentices enrolled in the Sheet Metal Apprentice Training Program.

The apprentices are Blaine Morton, Jeff Ostendorf and Dan Smith. All are in their first year of the five-year program.

More than 20 apprentices have graduated from the program that started at Associated Sheet Metal, In., over the years.

The training program has proven to be a leader in the construction industry. It serves 200 sheet metal apprentices and 25 heating, ventilation/air conditioning (hvac) service technicians. Sheet metal apprentices receive more than 700 hours of classroom training over five years. They learn drafting, blueprint reading, pattern development, cutting and forming, welding, safety and more. Apprentices attend class for a week each quarter, spending the rest of the year on the job.

"At the end of the program the graduate journeyman has logged 9,000 hours of classroom and on-the-job training and earns $25.867 an hour -- $40,000 to $50,000 a year, said David C. Zimmerman, president and business manager of Sheet Metal Workers' Local 36. "Though a first-year apprentice starts at $10.11 (per hour), increased kick in every six months, and fringes include paid vacation and holidays, generous family healthcare options with prescription and vision coverage, 401K retirement investment options, plus local and national pension plans.

Most recruits have been out of high school for a year or more.

"We like to see signs of a responsible job track record," said Dan Durphy, owner of Peters-Eichler Heating Company.

"Important attributes for a sheet metal construction career include mathematical ability, computer and mechanical skills, team-working social abilities, the capacity to see spatial relationships and satisfaction from working with your hands," Zimmerman said.

The St. Louis program apprentices have won honors in national sheet metal apprentice competition in recent years.

An open house was recently held at the Sheet Metal Workers Training Center in midtown St. Louis. The facility just underwent a $270,000 expansion that doubles classroom and workspace size to more than 18,000 square feet and adds sophisticated interactive computer training capability.

"If we're going to help build state-of-the-art buildings, we need to invest in state-of-the-art training," Zimmerman said.