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HEALTH AND SANITATION
Taking education‘ to go’
By Mike Flenniken
David Viola, IAPMO CEO
In the spirit of the sharing of unique experiences that shape the plumbing industries in our respective nations, the following essay was a runner-up in IAPMO’ s 2023 annual Scholarship Essay Competition. First introduced in 2009 and open to any student actively enrolled in a high school, community college, trade school, four-year accredited college or university or working in an apprentice program, the competition has elicited entries from all over the world. Written by Seanna Kryger of George Brown College in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, it is the next in a regular series of similar articles that will run in this magazine.
Dave Viola IAPMO CEO
Business Manager Courtenay Eichhorst and other officials at UA Local 412 in Albuquerque knew they needed to expand their efforts to better serve aspiring tradespeople across New Mexico. Despite operating five training centres statewide, these facilities were insufficient to reach individuals in remote communities.
“ We were thinking if we’ re going to get some of these good young people from the more remote places, we needed to take the training to them,” Eichhorst said.
That vision is now a reality. Thanks to a partnership between UA Local 412, the North Central New Mexico Economic Development District, and the state Department of Workforce Solutions— and a grant from the US Economic Development Administration( EDA)— a mobile training unit is delivering classroom instruction directly to students.
Eichhorst credits Joan Baker, UA Local 412’ s director of outreach and grants manager, for conceptualizing the mobile training unit to reach remote communities. The idea built on their existing use of a trailer equipped with a welding machine and threader for on-site training that they had taken to job sites in remote locations. Expanding this model into a preapprenticeship programme was a natural next step.
Baker spearheaded the programme’ s development and worked with the North Central New Mexico Economic Development Board— of which Eichhorst is a member— to connect with community, educational and tribal leaders. This outreach encouraged involvement, especially among New Mexico’ s diverse population, including Native Americans, who represent more than 12 % of the state’ s population.
The programme utilises a 12.5m Winnebago, the largest vehicle available that does not require a commercial driver’ s license. It accommodates up to 10 students inside and features a large outdoor TV screen for group instruction with a virtual welding machine.
“ Lincoln Electric has a great virtual welder that we use,” Eichhorst said.“ The instructor and the whole class get to watch, and they get to learn as a group. And then the next kid gets on and then the next kid and the next person and the next person.”
The 10-week programme comprises a three-week, 120-hour skilled trade camp followed by seven weeks of hands-on work with a contractor in the trade of the participant’ s choice. It follows the North American Building Trades Unions( NABTU) Multi-Craft Core Curriculum( MC3), a standardised course designed to help young people and transitioning adults choose and succeed in apprenticeship programmes that are right for them.
“ We have sent quite a few students to the union electricians or the union labourers,” Eichhorst said.“ A good, registered apprenticeship— that was our main goal.”
Participants earn USD15.90( R290) an hour and are paid by the State of New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions.
“ The contractors get seven weeks with an individual; it’ s much more than they get in an interview,” Baker said.“ They get seven weeks to determine if this person is right for them, right for their company, and meets the soft skills that they want. So, the contractors are loving the programme.”
The initiative is part of the Northern New Mexico Workforce Integration Network( WIN), a project funded by a USD6.4 million
www. plumbingafrica. co. za @ plumbingonline @ plumbingonline @ PlumbingAfricaOnline May 2025 Volume 31 I Number 03