Education

‘Think ahead’: The ITI turns 50 (part 3)

As the millennium appeared on the horizon, International Training Institute (ITI) leadership knew a change in training was needed for instructors and apprentices. For apprentices, the curriculum in place wasn’t…

September 16, 2021

SMOHIT welcomes new program director

This summer, the Sheet Metal Occupational Health Institute Trust Inc. (SMOHIT) welcomed Aldo Zambetti as program director. Zambetti started in sheet metal in 1980 and spent 20 years at the…

August 26, 2021

The ITI Turns 50: Five questions with a former administrator

Richard “Dick” Peck started his sheet metal apprenticeship in 1958 and became a journey worker in 1962 at Sheet Metal Workers Local 20 in Fort Wayne, Indiana. A former administrator…

August 24, 2021

‘If you don’t walk forward, you will fall behind’: The ITI turns 50 (part 2)

The second 15 years of existence for the National Training Fund (NTF), now known as the International Training Institute, were — like many teenage growing periods — full of momentum.…

ICB conference photo with Vince Alvarado

June 28, 2021

Vince Alvarado leads Local 49 in New Mexico with vision, experience

Four-term business manager and financial recording secretary Vince Alvarado not only wears many hats at the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation (SMART) workers Local 49 in…

June 14, 2021

NEMI team leads EPA webinar with indoor air quality expertise

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) held a Feb. 25 webinar to inform 1,652 attendees — composed of school maintenance and facilities staff; teachers, administrators and school health staff; technical support…

March 24, 2021

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…

December 8, 2020

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…

December 7, 2020

SMOHIT welcomes new administrative assistant, Abigail Livingston

Abigail Livingston recalls that the start of the COVID-19 pandemic was a strange time to get a new job as administrative assistant for the Sheet Metal Occupational Health Institute Trust…

September 3, 2020

SMOHIT provides AEDs, bleed kits to locals across the country

Defibrillators and tourniquets save lives. Years ago, it was unheard of to have a defibrillator in a workplace or other public space. Tourniquets fell out of favor for use in…