Ironworkers Local 22 engaged the 375 rising freshmen from four Marion County public high schools as well as the Newcomer Program during EmployIndy’s Let’s Build event at Arsenal Technical High School on July 13th.

The Ironworkers brought a column with them to the Talent Bound event, the real-life application of which is to provide journey-persons the ability to install bolts and beams at height for taller buildings, according to Ironworkers Local 22 Union Apprenticeship Coordinator and President, Ken Haggard. Haggard was on-site at Let’s Build and has 18 years of experience in the industry. As Haggard described the work, “We put everything up so others have something to attach to.” 

The Ironworkers’ booth attracted a steady line of students—and even EmployIndy President and CEO, Angela Carr Klitzsch, who made an appearance and demonstrated some impressive climbing skills of her own. Students who had an interest in climbing the column were able to hook in and test their courage and strength. 

Between fully-trained and certified journeymen and women and those who are in training, there are about 900 Ironworkers in Indianapolis with plenty of space for more. Most Ironworkers start with a four-year apprenticeship that partners with Ivy Tech, in which participants earn an Associate of Applied Science in Technology while learning all aspects of welding along the way. 

EmployIndy is also able to work with interested business partners to get them started in the three-year Modern Apprenticeship Program. Reach out to your preferred contact on EmployIndy’s business partnership team to learn more. 

For the Ironworkers, no experience is expected or required on the front end, and applications for the three or four annual cohorts are considered all year long. Upon beginning the program, apprentices earn $20.54 an hour (plus a generous array of benefits) while working for one of the 70 or so contractors with whom Ironworkers partners. That hourly wage increases to $34.24 once the apprenticeship is completed. 

The Ironworkers were not the only engaging booth at Let’s Build. The membership-based Indiana Society of Professional Land Surveyors were also represented at the event and grabbed student attention with their university-built, virtual sandbox, the elements of which can be shifted around to create topographical features such as hills, valleys, and bodies of water. 

Surveyors, according to Rodney Kelly, the Director of Survey Services at the Good Wages Initiative-certified Etica Group—are “expert measurers.” The measurements are then used to create maps, which are used for a number of purposes within the engineering and construction fields.