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Do you have dreams of starting your own service business? Or do you have an existing sheet metal business that you’d like to add a service department to? If so, the International Training Institute (ITI) Service Academy is for you.

The ITI launched its new Service Academy in April, aimed at supporting union sheet metal workers who want to become service contractors signatory to SMART, as well as existing signatory contractors looking to add a service arm to their business. The academy features a series of courses designed to teach SMART members the fundamentals of business ownership and help them decide whether or not to start a business.

Beginning with the ITI Business Development course, participants are introduced to the tools they need to plan for successful business ownership, including choosing a business name, hiring and retaining the right people, bidding accurately, keeping track of cash flow and more. The Business Development course also gives participants a jump-start on writing a comprehensive business plan and examines strategies for marketing and financing a new business in today’s construction and service markets.

Once they have completed Business Development, participants can choose from various courses in the Service Academy’s pathway, addressing the needs of members at all stages in their careers.

For example, the Basic Service Technician Training course is designed for those who have gained knowledge and insight into the Business Development and Service Manager courses but need more hands-on experience working with the tools of the trade. Another course, the Service Specialty Manager Training, is for those who want to open a dedicated service department at an existing signatory contractor. Participants learn the ins and outs of dispatch, cost of overhead, maintenance contracts, marketing and more.

The Service Academy provides the most robust and well-rounded approach to the service side of the industry and includes more than just HVACR. With multiple course selections available, the academy is centered on participants’ needs and will address a broader perspective of service-based scopes of work, including – but not limited to – HVAC Fire Life Safety, TAB, BIM and Ventilation Verification for Indoor Air Quality. Most of the courses are offered either entirely online or in a hybrid learning environment, and independent study expectations are kept manageable for participants who are still working full time in the field.

Visit the Service Academy website to learn more!

The newly certified ICB/TABB contractors listed below recently entered the ranks of elite professionals who have proven they are at the top of their craft, meet the rigorous requirements for ICB/TABB certification and employ certified, highly skilled technicians and supervisors who continue to improve their skills with continuing education units and who invest their knowledge in the future. These TABB, fire and smoke damper, and commissioning contractors perform quality work for customers of the HVAC sheet metal industry while providing a solid company bottom line.

Healthy, forward-thinking companies like these are the lifeblood of our profession – and NEMIC and its certifying bodies, ICB/TABB, are here to help contractors help customers by identifying emerging technology, certifications, legislation, HVAC Fire Life Safety, indoor air quality, marketing and branding, field staff support and much more.

Please join us in congratulating the following companies for demonstrating the highest level of excellence, commitment and dedication to our industry:

CertificationCertification DateCompanyCompany CityLocal Union
TABB Contractor3/30/2022Pan-Pacific MechanicalFremont, CA104
TABB Contractor3/8/2022Bledsoe Environmental, LLCIndianapolis, IN20
TABB Contractor, Commissioning3/8/2022Built Environmental Systems TestingCashion, OK124
TABB Contractor3/3/2022Total MechanicalPewaukee, WI18
TABB Contractor2/7/2022T&B ServiceEau Claire, WI18
TABB Contractor2/7/2022Big City BalancingAstoria, NY28
Fire & Smoke Damper Contractor3/8/2022AMS Mechanical Systems, Inc.Woodridge, IL265
Fire & Smoke Damper Contractor3/8/2022Sunset Air, Inc.Lacey, WA66
Fire & Smoke Damper Contractor2/14/2022Cahill Sketching and InspectingSomerdale, NJ19

Click here for more information on becoming an ICB/TABB Certified Contractor.

On April 9, 2022, the SM Local 20 (South Bend, Ind.) SMART Army was out in full force, helping Rebuilding Together St. Joseph County rehabilitate the homes of low-income homeowners in the local community. This year, 13 volunteers — from journey people to apprentices — took part in the effort, meeting at the Local 20 union hall for breakfast and coffee before loading up the materials and getting to work.

“All of the journey people that volunteered have been doing it for many years, since they were apprentices,” said Local 20 Business Rep. Kreg Homoky. “It is a tremendous help having their leadership there.”

Members of Local 20 have been volunteering for Rebuilding Together since 1989, the year the program (then called Christmas in April) first started. Rebuilding Together is a nonprofit, community- based coalition of volunteers from local government, businesses and other nonprofit groups that rehabilitate the homes of low-income homeowners and improve neighborhoods, with priority given to elderly (over 60 years of age), disabled and/or veteran homeowners.

On two April Saturdays each year, approximately 1,000 skilled and unskilled volunteers join together to make repairs to about 20 homes in a selected St. Joseph County neighborhood. All repairs are completed at no cost to the homeowner.

“Once the houses have been selected, we visit each house to decide which house could utilize new gutters,” Homoky said. “We concentrate on gutters because years ago, we were looking for a way to be involved in the program and most houses seem to need gutters. We measure each house and order the material from the local supply house and have it delivered to the union hall. We purchase the coil material for the seamless gutter and deliver it to our local contractor to run off the needed lengths, and they deliver those to the union hall.”

Local 20 volunteers: Bill Geers, Don Taber, Michael Edmonson, David Hinegardner, Dan Choi, Pedro Rameriz, Timothy VanHulle, Josh P. DeLaurelle, Sam Troeger, Joseph Staszewski, David Parker, Aron Rotering and Kevin Needham.

GP Sellers addresses Recruitment and Retention, Roofing and Building Enclosure and Production and Sign Councils

SMART local unions from across the United States and Canada met in Milwaukee, Wis. from June 6–9 under the banner of the Recruitment and Retention Council, Roofing and Building Enclosure Council and Production and Sign Council. SMART General President Joseph Sellers kicked off each day of meetings by addressing assembled delegates to each separate council. He discussed recruitment efforts and new strategies to bring in a diverse group of new members to staff an unprecedented number of new mega projects coming online in the months and years ahead. He noted the volume of members who have retired in the past few years, as well as those due to retire over the next decade, and the need to ensure they are replaced with qualified new members from across every demographic background. He added that the HVAC side of the sheet metal industry is predicted to grow by 47,000 new positions in the next decade. Those workers will either serve as union or nonunion workers, fundamentally altering the industry, potentially for the worse, if we do not act and recruit them into SMART.

Now is the time for sheet metal local unions and signatory employers to train and ensure the workforce for this scale of work will be available.

During his remarks, GP Sellers also discussed the new infrastruc­ture work and its focus on the sheet metal and transportation industries. Noting some complaints about its focus away from “traditional” infra­structure, he explained that much of that expanded focus is actually on the industries SMART represents and will put thousands of SMART sheet metal workers to work while ensuring America’s transportation network will be upgraded for a new generation of railroaders and bus operators.

Local 17 (Boston, Mass.) sheet metal worker Shamaiah Turner facilitates a session on recruitment and retention

He also updated attendees on the unprecedented work the Biden-Harris administration has launched focused on worker issues. This includes a new task force on orga­nizing and worker empowerment, as well as the Biden administra­tion’s efforts to ensure SMART sheet metal workers and signatory contractors have access to new work opportunities at military and government buildings.

Besides the new infrastructure work, GP Sellers pointed to new mega projects in the private sector coming online at chip plants and battery manufacturing facilities for new elec­tric vehicles. One project he described, in the Southeast, recently announced a sheet metal package requiring 1 million hours of new HVAC work, along with a second phase of 750,000 additional hours. This is in addition to building envelope work of approxi­mately 500,000 hours.

He also discussed new ventilation verification work that will need to be done in schools, hospitals and public buildings across the country, which will require union members at an unprecedented level. He noted the number of outside trades interested in performing some of this sheet metal work and made it clear: Now is the time for sheet metal local unions and signatory employers to train and ensure the workforce for this scale of work will be available.

On Wednesday, June 1, the Local 38 SMART Army helped assemble The Wall That Heals at Veteran’s Memorial Park in Norwalk, Connecticut.

Left to right: Nick Cometti, Dave Renshaw, Gabe Precourt, Doug Cox, Viki Siok, Jeff Herling and Trevor LeBeau.

On April 3, 2022, SM Local 58’s (Syracuse, N.Y.) SMART Army gathered in Utica to help Sleep in Heavenly Peace build twin-size and bunk beds for kids without beds in the Mohawk Valley. With the help of first-, second- and third-year apprentices Nick Cometti, Dave Renshaw, Gabe Precourt, Doug Cox, Viki Siok, Jeff Herling and Trevor LeBeau, plus volunteers from the local community, our SMART brothers and sisters were able to put together 276 beds.

“There were stations set up for cutting, drilling, sanding, staining, assembling and branding,” said Local 58’s Jeff Foster. “It was a nice feeling to know that we were there to help out with families that have come on hard times.”

Throughout April — the SMART Army’s month of community action — SMART Transportation Division members across Virginia mobilized to serve their neighbors, build solidarity and forge relationships that stand to better our union.

On April 22, members of SMART TD Local 854 (Portsmouth, Va.) were joined by first-term Virginia Delegate Karen Greenhalgh (R-85th District) for a visit to Arrowhead Elementary School in Virginia Beach, where members discussed trains and train safety and gave away engineer hats, train whistles and coloring books to kindergarteners. According to Virginia State Legislative Director Ronnie Hobbs, such visits provide the dual purpose of “giving back to the communities in which we work and live” and sending a message to political leaders on either side of the party line: The union life is about good jobs, safety and dignity on the job, supporting the community and having a family.

“[We want] political leaders to understand that we’re not here asking for unreasonable things, we’re asking for safety … These are vital issues in our community — we want to make sure [the state assembly] knows that,” Hobbs explained.

The next weekend, members of Locals 924 and 662 (Richmond, Va.) took part in food drives in Richmond and Norfolk, with Virginia Delegate Shelly Simonds (D-94th District) and local Legislative Representative Justin Treu joining the SMART Army in Norfolk. Later in the month, the Local 363 SMART Army visited Brookdale Assisted Living Center in Roanoke, spending the day painting birdhouses and sharing stories with Brookdale residents. Overall, such activities represented the goal of the month of community action: helping others and demonstrating that union members are friends and neighbors in every town.

“For me, April’s a great month because it’s a way for our membership to give back to their communities, and really to enjoy where they live and work,” Hobbs added. “We all preach unionism, solidarity and our jobs. It’s important our members are in our communities and explain that these are union jobs where you will have a family, raise a family and be proud of what you do.”

On Saturday, May 7, SMART Local 12 (Southwestern Pa.) hosted its annual Take Kids Fishing Day at Derry Rod and Gun Club Lake, inviting local SMART families and children, as well as youth from the Westmoreland County Autism Society, for a fun day of fishing followed by a picnic lunch. Despite rainy conditions and temperatures that hovered around 40 degrees, 20 children showed up for free fishing poles, bait, T-shirts and food — provided by Local 12 with help from the Union Sports­men’s Alliance.

“When you see the look on the kids’ faces, it’s worth it — even the weather,” said Local 12 Business Rep. Daniel Maslo.

SMART Local 12 has hosted Take Kids Fishing events for three consecutive years; this year’s event benefited, as well as included, the Westmoreland County Autism Society. Before the event, Maslo explained, the local sent letters to all signatory contractors asking for donations to the Westmoreland County Autism Society, which were presented to the organization during Take Kids Fishing Day.

For members of the local union and the community alike, such examples of service and outreach demonstrate the lasting power of solidarity — beyond the jobsite — and the transformative impact a union can have in local communities.

“Thanks to Derry Rod and Gun Club for the use of their lake and for an extra fish stocking donation,” Maslo added.

On Saturday, May 7, members of SM Local 5 (East Tennessee) marched in the Knoxville Suffrage Parade: a celebration of the 102nd anniversary of the 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote. As Local 5 wrote on Face­book, “In the early 1900s, union trades in Knoxville stood up to intimidators and gave our halls as places to plan and organize the right for all women to vote.” Today, SMART members and unionists across trades and sectors continue the fight for equal rights.

In late March, SMART mem­bers joined union brothers and sisters from across the Okla­homa labor movement for a good cause. Together with the Union Sportsmen’s Alliance (USA) and Major League Fishing (MLF) Fisher­ies Management Division (FMD), local union members teamed up at REDCREST — MLF’s Bass Pro Tour championship — to build 120 artificial fish habitats. The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conserva­tion, MLF co-founder and Bass Fishing Hall of Fame inductee Gary Klein, FMD members and MossBack Fish Habitat deployed some of the structures into Lake Bixhoma shortly after to improve the quality of life for numerous fish species.

“Much of the natural fish habitat once found in many of our reservoirs has been buried by siltation or slowly degraded over time as it decom­poses,” said Steven Bardin, a fisheries biologist with MLF-FMD. “This habitat loss must be addressed if we plan to continue to support healthy fish populations. That’s why a project like the Ferguson Habitat build and partnerships with Union Sportsmen’s Alliance, MossBack Fish Habitat, the KVD Foundation and Berkley Labs are so important to MLF Fisheries Management Division.”

In projects like the one at REDCREST, community engage­ment is a concrete aim — and that aim was certainly achieved in Oklahoma, in no small part because of the enthusiasm and skill set of union members who took part

Habitat restoration projects like the one at REDCREST target fisheries near MLF Bass Pro Tour stage locations and — using science-based methods, a community-driven approach and materials preferred by local agencies — help to reestablish natural areas of local communi­ties. The event at REDCREST saw 41 union volunteers representing Sheet Metal Workers Local 270, the Oklahoma AFL-CIO, Transportation Workers Local 514, Roofers Local 143, Electrical Workers Local 584 and National Letter Carriers Local 1358 donate 530 hours — a $28,090 value — to build the habitats using tools donated by Milwaukee Tool and materials provided by Ferguson and MossBack Fish.

“The Oklahoma AFL-CIO has partnered with the USA on multiple projects in Oklahoma, and the communities are always grateful for the work we do. During the expo, many attendees stopped by the booth to ask questions about the habitat builds and the work the USA does,” said Jimmy C. Curry, Oklahoma AFL-CIO president, who organized volunteers for the project. “I’ve personally done work with our unions and different charities for over 30 years, and the projects we have done with the USA have been my most memorable. Seeing the work the USA does has made me a Union Sportsman for life.”

MLF and the USA signed an agreement in July 2021 to pursue angler recruitment, retention and reactivation via each entity’s staff and respective pools of member volunteers in order to put together local and state fishing events, MLF fishing events and USA habitat conservation projects.

“Through our Work Boots on the Ground conservation program, the USA reaches into local communi­ties to create and improve access and opportunities in the outdoors,” said Forrest Parker, USA director of conservation and communications. “Combining the USA’s workforce of union volunteers with the resources and influence of Major League Fishing through projects like this propel both of our organizations’ efforts to pass on the fishing heritage to a whole new level.”

In projects like the one at REDCREST, community engage­ment is a concrete aim — and that aim was certainly achieved in Oklahoma, in no small part because of the enthusiasm and skill set of union members who took part.

“An added benefit of bringing together skilled union volunteers to complete a conservation project in the middle of an event attended by tens of thousands of bass fans was the educational component,” said Sam Phipps, USA conserva­tion programs manager. “There were hourly demonstrations and printed instructions avail­able, so expo attendees can now build habitats on their own to benefit additional water bodies and fisheries.”