International Training Institute (ITI)

Minnesota sheet metal workers create opportunities with new learning lab

The pandemic didn’t slow down progress at Sheet Metal Workers Local 10 in White Bear Lake, Minnesota. Beginning in March 2020, construction began on the training center’s new 3,700-square-foot commercial…

Tale of two cities: reopening sheet metal training centers in 2020

There are more than 140 union sheet metal training centers in the United States and Canada, and they vary in size — from city to rural, a few dozen apprentices…

Local 7 apprentices, leadership help Michigan residents after May flood

While cooped-up residents were getting ready for the first signs of summer, residents of Sanford, Michigan, were picking up the pieces and sweeping away mud and water to see what…

MGM fire 40th anniversary: The state of fire life safety

Smoke billowed into the blue sky above a 1980-version of the Las Vegas skyline on a crisp Nov. 21 morning. The cloud was coming from the MGM, which is now…

Dan McCallum named executive director of the Funds

The sponsor organizations of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation (SMART) and the Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors’ National Association (SMACNA) have selected Dan McCallum…

McGuire named director of research, development and technology for ITI

Minnesota native Ronald McGuire has been named director of research, development and technology for the International Training Institute (ITI). McGuire, a member of Sheet Metal Workers Local 10 for 29 years, has been…

ITI program helps apprentices access online content throughout pandemic

When the pandemic hit, training centers had to find ways to continue education online for apprentices. While first-year apprentices are assigned an iPad at the beginning of the school year…

ITI, Interplay Learning team up to bring hands-on, VR service training to SMART members

The ITI has partnered with Interplay Learning to bring hands-on training to members of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation (SMART) and apprentices across the country through a…

When COVID-19 hit, training at Local 105 got creative

Across the country, schools of all types are trying to figure out how to operate while keeping employees and students safe from COVID-19. Training centers — each with their own…

Award recipients recognized at home for safety culture at work

SMOHIT Safety Champions Conference, awards rescheduled for 2021 FAIRFAX, Va. – Although the 2020 Safety Champions Conference and Safety Matters Awards was rescheduled this year due to the pandemic, the Sheet…

SMART MAP peer training brings suicide, substance abuse prevention to members

The SMART Members Assistance Program (MAP) and the Sheet Metal Occupational Health Institute Trust (SMOHIT) have been offering trainings to union leadership on the local level for the last three years in a concerted…

Trades Women Build Nations brings union sisters together

More than 2,700 union women — more than 200 sheet metal sisters — and their allies gathered Oct. 4-6 in downtown Minneapolis for Trades Women Build Nations, a meeting of the…

Biannual conference is a true sign of Partners in Progress

The sheet metal Funds were well represented at the Partners in Progress Conference held Feb. 25-26 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. The biannual labor-management event brings together SMART (Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and…

Fifth annual Safety Champions Conference set for March

The Sheet Metal Occupational Health Institute Trust (SMOHIT) plans to host the 2020 Safety Champions Conference March 22-24 at the Westin Riverwalk, San Antonio, 420 W. Market St. The conference continues SMOHIT’s…

Indiana apprenticeship focuses on service

Sheet Metal Workers Local 20 training centers in Gary and Evansville, Indiana, are meeting industry demand for more service specialists with new five-year service-specific apprenticeship programs. Sean Webb, who instructs general…

SMART Heroes second location celebrates first graduating class

SMART Heroes Local 9 in Colorado Springs celebrated its first graduating class Oct. 7. Three participants completed a seven-week course to earn the equivalent of their first-year sheet metal apprentice…

Five locals earn Platinum Designation at Eastern Regional Apprenticeship Conference

Mike Harris, program administrator of the International Training Institute (ITI), presented five sheet metal training centers with Platinum Accreditation during the Eastern Regional Apprenticeship Conference this spring. Locals who earned the designation include Local 85 in…

SMART Heroes celebrates first graduation in Colorado

Three service members graduated during Oct. 7 ceremony Three members of the United States military graduated as the first class of the SMART Heroes program’s Colorado location Oct. 7 at…

SMART Heroes graduates 39 new members in first half of 2019, announces second location

The first half of 2019 was a busy time for the SMART Heroes program, located at Western Washington Sheet Metal near Seattle. The program graduated 39 new sheet metal apprentices during three seven-week sessions,…

Ohio apprentice training coordinators use Skills USA to scout the future

Ohio sheet metal apprentice training coordinators, business managers, organizers and agents look for the best students to recruit to their apprenticeship programs, and over the years, they’ve found the state Skills…

ICB Conference takes on 18th year with camaraderie, grass roots successes, teamwork

The 18th annual sheet metal industry International Certification Board (ICB) Conference was held May 5-7 in Seattle with more than 150 attendees, including training coordinators, instructors, business managers, contractors, trustees and other…

Second SMART Heroes program set for Colorado

Partnership between sheet metal union, Fort Carson puts veterans to work COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – SMART Heroes, a program established to help soon-to-be or recent military veterans transition into a sheet…

Sheet metal locals share hosting duties for Mid-Atlantic state competition

Sheet metal locals in the Mid-Atlantic states came together May 2-4 at Local 27 in Farmingdale, New Jersey, to share camaraderie and competition during the region’s annual contest. Participating locals…

Northwest Apprentice Contest welcomes students from seven states

For the third year, sheet metal apprentices, coordinators, instructors, business managers and contractors came together in Portland, Oregon, for the Northwest Apprenticeship Contest, which hosted sheet metal students from Washington,…

International Training Institute welcomes new field representative, Lisa Davis

Lisa Davis took a somewhat unconventional path to becoming a sheet metal worker. After graduating from the University of California at Davis with a bachelor’s degree in biology, Davis changed…

Training centers rise to the challenge of accreditation

The International Training Institute (ITI) Accreditation Board periodically reviews and adjusts the requirements for its sheet metal training centers to attain accreditation. The board, which is made up of four members representing…

Indiana local hosts Ultimate Apprentice Contest

Indiana Sheet Metal Workers Local 20 apprentices from Evansville, Fort Wayne, Gary, Indianapolis, Lafayette, South Bend and Terre Haute competed in the Indiana Ultimate Apprentice Contest April 4-6 at the…

Companies contribute to program helping veterans find careers

SMART Heroes provides course to help veterans enter sheet metal apprenticeship FAIRFAX, Va. – To date, more than 10 classes and 142 veterans have graduated from SMART Heroes, a program that…

Region hosts first sheet metal apprentice contest in a decade

After a decade away, Midwest states participated in the first Great Plains Apprentice Contest Feb. 21 and 22 in Kansas City, Missouri. Twenty-eight sheet metal apprentices from six states and…

Heroic apprentice saves life of fellow co-worker, mentor

A few days following the Fourth of July last summer, journeyperson Scott Hintz and Dan Hubbard, a third-year apprentice, were working in the industrial shop with fellow craftspeople at Doral Corporation…