Carpenters Help Indiana Organization Save Lives

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44 – that’s the number of lives Indiana Youth Services’ Making Good Decisions initiative has helped save since its inception. It’s an organization that’s making a difference to so many young people, which is why the Indiana Kentucky Ohio Regional Council of Carpenters was happy to sponsor their “The Blind Pig Speakeasy” fundraiser this week.

“The carpenters have always believed in helping our members better their lives, in this regard our missions are very much aligned. This organization is helping save lives, it’s a great cause for us to support,” says Tim Thieme of the IKORCC.

Their mission is simple, Making Good Decisions helps educate young people about the dangers of underage drinking to help prevent alcohol-related deaths. The organization led the charge to pass Indiana’s Lifeline Law, which gives immunity from certain alcohol-related offenses to minors who call to report a medical emergency or crime.

It’s a cause that is deeply personal to the organization’s founders Norm and Dawn Finbloom. Their son Brett passed out after a night of heavy drinking at a friend’s house. When his heart stopped beating and friends realized he was in real trouble, they didn’t call paramedics immediately for fear of getting in trouble. Unfortunately, that choice and delay in getting help led to Brett’s death.

Vowing to save other families from a similar tragedy, The Finbloom’s worked hard to pass the Lifeline Law and say, “Now Brett is everyone’s lifeline.”

Making Good Decisions has recently partnered with Indiana’s Text-to-911 services to increase public awareness about the ability to TEXT-to-911 in an emergency. The purpose is to encourage young people to contact 911 for help when they find themselves or a friend in an emergency.

Learn more about the Indiana Kentucky Ohio Regional Council of Carpenters or our community projects.

Carpenters Help Little Wish Foundation Grant a Wish

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For Derek Dodd helping the Little Wish Foundation grant a wish isn’t just about giving back – it’s personal. Derek’s wife is a childhood cancer survivor and although he wasn’t in her life at the time, he knows the toll cancer takes on a family.

That’s why Derek and 13 other members of Carpenter’s Local 1016 spent the day in Muncie building a swing set for a two-year-old boy with cancer. The swing set included a slide, clubhouse, rock climbing wall, and a sandbox.

“You and your guys really made a difference to our family, and I cannot thank you enough,” the boy’s grandmother said.

Derek said seeing the family so happy meant a lot to the group. “Anytime we can help a family in need like this for this good cause – I’m all on board,” he said.

Great work Local 1016! 

 

Carpenters Help Portsmouth Family Build Future

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Carpenters not only helped build a home in Portsmouth last weekend, they also helped a family build a solid foundation for their future. 

Nearly a dozen members of Carpenter’s Local 437 helped Scioto County Habitat for Humanity build a home for a family in Ohio. Carpenters set the trusses and completed the roof in only five hours!

“When God blesses you with a skill, it’s always good to bless back,” says member Mike Slack Sr., who ventured out of retirement to lend a hand to his local.

Member and Indiana Kentucky Ohio Regional Council of Carpenters Business Agent Trampas Puckett said, “Carpenters are all about building our communities, this was a perfect way to help a deserving family build their future.”

The Scioto County Habitat for Humanity thanked the carpenters. “A very special thank you to the local Carpenters Union #437 for putting in a long, hot day helping us.”

IKORCC Wins Commercial Project of the Year

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They haven’t officially cut the ribbon opening the new Merrillville training facility and already the IKORCC’s state-of-the-art building is winning awards.

Wednesday the Indiana Kentucky Ohio Regional Council of Carpenters earned the prestigious “Commercial Project of the Year Award” from the Construction Advancement Fund (CAF) for the new administration and training facility in Merrillville.

The buildings, which are located at 1560 E. 70th Court in Merrillville, were built by Hasse Construction with the help of union carpenters.

The CAF hosts an annual award ceremony in partnership with the Northwest Indiana Building Roundtable (NWIBRT) to recognize excellence in construction and safety.

The IKORCC Merrillville project was recognized for being completed on schedule, within budget, with minimal disruption to the operation, all while upholding the highest commitment to safety.

The IKORCC administration building is 13,000 square feet and the training center is an impressive 64,000 square feet. The training center will help thousands of people build their careers in the industry. Carpenters, floor coverers, and millwrights will receive the latest skill & safety training thanks to the new facility.

To learn more about the Merrillville Training Center, or to build a career in carpentry click here.

Habitat for Humanity Nail It Competition of Southeast Ohio

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Last month, IKORCC members created a team to participate in the 3rd Annual Habitat for Humanity Nail It Competition of Southeast Ohio. The Nail It Competition is a nail-biting race to see what team can drive nails the fastest. Each team member must drive two nails into a piece of wood relay style. Our fast and hardworking IKORCC team finished first place with a time of 23 seconds!

Local 356 in Marietta, Ohio was represented by Brent Hensley (Journeyman) and Tyler Welch (Apprentice). Local 650 in Pomeroy, Ohio was represented by Kill Wells (Journeyman) and Luke Fackler (Apprentice). The team was funded by donations of their locals, collecting a total of $1,000! The event raised a total of $7,000 dollars between all 25 teams. The money collected from the teams goes to support Habitat for Athens County and the work they do in the community.

Hochstedler Flooring Partners with IKORCC

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Indiana isn’t immune to the skilled worker shortage sweeping America, a fact that one flooring company learned the hard way. Hochstedler Floorcovering in Kokomo hopes to solve that problem by partnering with the Indiana/Kentucky/Ohio Regional Council of Carpenters.

“There’s a real shortage of flooring installers out there that really want to learn the trade,” Greg Hochstedler says. “We believe partnering with the carpenters will help get us trained flooring installers – that’s hard to find nowadays.”

Carmella Hochstedler, who runs the business alongside her brother & father, says they’ve been looking for a way to get new installers as many of their longtime employees are getting close to retirement.

“We really needed a better way to train the next generation,” she says. Adding, “We’ve used subs in the past, but it’s hard to get guys to stay due to the nature of the work.”

Carmella hopes partnering with the carpenters and their highly trained members will help grow the family business. “It will open doors we haven’t been able to on our own,” she says.

Hochstedler opened in its doors in 1998 after Greg and his father wanted to run a flooring company, instead of working as installers as they had since the early 1980s. The company has been family owned and operated since its inception.

Today there are three generations of Hochstedlers working at the company, although it’s not uncommon to see the next generation in the store learning the trade.

Hochstedler Floorcovering sells and installs vinyl, laminate, hardwood, ceramic, carpet and many more types of flooring. Currently, their wait time for installation is about three weeks, but with an influx of skilled floor coverers from the carpenters they can now service commercial clients much faster.

Hochstedler Floorcovering serves Kokomo, Logansport, Marion, Peru, Tipton, Westfield and portions of Carmel.

IKORCC Sponsors Kentucky Derby Festival

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Last week Union Carpenters kicked off the Kentucky Derby Festival with a bang at Thunder Over Louisville, a day-long air show and firework display at nightfall over the Ohio River.

The event brought Kentucky carpenters together to educate visitors on becoming a Union Carpenter and the future opportunities in the field. Thunder Over Louisville brought thousands of spectators to the Kentucky and Indiana shorelines.

Indiana/Kentucky/Ohio Regional Council of Carpenters EST Mark McGriff was proud to help cut the ribbon, kicking off the annual Derby Festival. The IKORCC sponsored The Grove for the week of festivities. The Grove has been a gathering spot for visitors of the Derby Festival. The space is lined with picnic tables made by Apprentices from Carpenters Local 175. It was a volunteer opportunity and their time was greatly appreciated!

Dan Sustin, Training Coordinator in Richfield, Ohio made IKORCC metal plaques for each of the picnic tables. The tables were a great addition to the space this year and we hope to see them in the many years to come!

In 1956 the festival started with one small event on the river, today the schedule is packed with nightly events and multiple local vendors. We were thrilled to be able to support the event and look forward to many other community events in the coming year.

Honoring Vets at KY Derby Festival

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Saturday volunteers with the Indiana Kentucky Ohio Regional Council of Carpenters spent the day honoring our nation’s bravest at the Kentucky Derby Festival in Louisville. The festival gave free admission to vets and their families for their annual Military Appreciation Day & Tyler Farr county concert.

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Volunteers from the IKORCC spent the day educating people about our Helmets to Hardhats program, which helps vets get a job after returning home, often within six weeks. Helmets to Hardhats helps military service members successfully transition back into civilian life by offering them the means to secure a quality career in the construction industry. Our federally-approved apprenticeship program allows vets to use their Montgomery G.I. Bill benefits to supplement their income.

Based on vet’s military occupation code, we can help leverage training and work-related experience during their time in the service for possible advanced placement in our apprenticeship program. With an honorable discharge, veterans can be working on a job site as soon as six weeks!

One of our carpenters and his wife, who volunteered at the event, were thrilled to meet country star Tyler Farr just before his concert Saturday!

We’d like to thank all the brave men and women that serve our nation’s military. We’d also like to thank the many volunteers who spent the weekend helping our community.

Click here to learn more about our Helmets to Hardhats program.

IKORCC Hosts UBC Midwest District Olympics

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Saturday carpenters and floor layers from across the Midwest battled it out in the UBC Midwest Drywall & Flooring Olympics at the IKORCC headquarters in Greenwood, Indiana.

All competitors won regional drag races in order to advance to the Midwest finals. The participants all did amazing, but only one in each category advanced to the championships at the Carpenter’s International Training Center in Las Vegas, Nevada later this year.

Jose Reyes from the Chicago Regional Council of Carpenters won first place in the drywall race, with an impressive time. Our own Manuel Banegas, Local 301, earned second place in the drywall contest!

Joshua Landis from the St. Louis-Kansas City Regional Council won first place in the flooring contest. The IKORCC’s Noel Johnson also had a great showing in the flooring competition.

Thanks to all who participated in the UBC Midwest Drywall & Flooring Olympics at the IKORCC!

Bullriders Build Lordstown Power Plant

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Our members have been out and about making noise in Lordstown, Ohio! The Lordstown Energy Center (LEC) is a 940MW combined-cycle power plant. LEC is a 1-billion-dollar project that began in June 2016 and has an estimated completion date of mid-2018. The LEC project has produced over 1 million man hours 100% UNION building trades members. The carpenters have an important role within the project; building scaffold for all crafts safely and in a timely manner. The men and women of the UBC have the training and the determination to get the job done.

On the project are a group of carpenters that call themselves, “THE BULLRIDERS” of Vertical Access (Nate Tice 186, Mark Wells 171, Brandon Ates 186, Lucas McDowell 186, Levi Snodgrass 186 and Mike Schwartzmiller 186). Mark Wells from Local 171 commented on the history of the scaffold pictured below, “The Bull Riders crew battled cold weather combined with strong winds and heavy snowfall to get the job done. It was a challenge that they had seen before. We knew that safety and experience were the two key factors in getting this scaffold built.” The scaffold is 110 feet tall with 15 working deck levels. The load took 7 semi-truck loads of various scaffold components, including Beta Hoists to build. Mark said, “that’s why they call us the BULLRIDERS, because we are professionals that get in and get the job done and then we’re off to the next rodeo to do it again”!

By: Justin Rance, Youngstown