Carpenters Union Opens Training Center
Ontario, CA – The Southwest Regional Council of Carpenters opened a $15 million, 72,211 sq. ft. training center at 3250 East Shelby. Its mission is to teach union apprentice carpenters and journeymen the latest construction techniques and safety measures in order to increase their job productivity and work quality. Sheriff Gary Penrod, Ontario City Manager, Greg Devereaux and Joe Oltmans II of Oltmans Construction Co., contractor for the facility, joined Executive Secretary/Treasurer of the Southwest Regional Council of Carpenters, Mike McCarron, union contractors, union officials and hundreds of carpenters to inaugurate the center. It will open for classes on Nov. 13.
The United Brotherhood of Carpenters is investing $175 million annually in training nationwide to keep its members competitive in today’s economy. The Southwest Regional Council of Carpenters is the nation’s largest regional council with 60,000 members in Southern California, Nevada, Arizona and Utah. It operates 14 training centers in the region, spending $20 million a year on training programs.
The Ontario Training Center already has 165 apprentices signed up for its in augural training classes that will start Nov 13. Larger than a football field, the center is a state-of-the-art facility for the Carpenters Union. Its 39,885 sq. ft. open floor accommodates instruction in steel stud framing, drywall installation, concrete forms, scaffold erection and bridge construction.
Separate classrooms for welding training have been set up as well as classrooms dedicated to blueprint reading, construction safety, first aid/CPR, mathematics and language skills. Journey-level carpenters can improve their skills through advanced courses including aerial, advanced blueprint reading, pre-cast/tilt-up concrete construction, building layout, clean room protocol, stair construction, roof framing and total quality management.
Architect Bruce Bailey, vice president and executive architect at Gin Wong Associates, designed the Ontario Carpenters Training Center and Oltmans Construction Co. was the contractor.