A Springdale company will help new plumbers climb to the top of their field by paying for their education.
“ If part of your plan is to become a plumber, Allied can pay for your schooling,” said Josh Ross, Allied Plumbing Owner.
The service industry can provide a good living for Allied employees, Ross said.
“ The business started in 1995,” Ross said.“ Now, we have 31 employees. That’ s doubled in the last two years.” on his journeyman license. He prefers working on plumbing in new buildings.
“ I like construction jobs. It was a hit with me,” Jarnagan said.“ I like being outdoors instead of being indoors.”
Before leaving for a job in North Dakota in the oil fields, Jarnagan worked a year and a half for the city of Fayetteville’ s water department. He started with Allied when he returned to the area.“ You’ ve got to like fixing leaks if you work for the city,” he said.
To earn a journeyman’ s certification, you have to go to an evening class each week for four years while you are working as an apprentice plumber, Ross explained. You then take and pass a test. Apprentices can take the class at Northwest Arkansas Community College, he said.
“ You could have a journeyman license at 24,” said Beth Patterson, head of finances for Allied Plumbing.“ There are not a lot of jobs where you can advance that quickly.”
Allied handles both home plumbing repairs and new construction. The company employs both journeymen and apprentice plumbers. A journeyman is a skilled worker who has completed an official apprenticeship.
“ Most of our journeymen have started here as apprentices and worked their way up,” Ross said.“ We’ ve had a lot of apprentices working here and been successful in training them.”
The plumbing jobs vary at Allied, with a few workers specializing in certain areas. Jobs outside of the usual water and gas lines include work on septic systems and on medical gas lines.
The company is also changing the way people look at plumbers. Allied wants its workers to look like professionals, Patterson said.
Apprentices make $ 10 to $ 15 per hour and journeymen can make $ 18 to $ 28 per hour.
Will Jarnagan, an apprentice with Allied, is working
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