On an active job site in Salem, Joey Hawkins is not only laying the groundwork for a new senior living community, but also his future. Hawkins, 22, is a third-year apprentice with IBEW Local 64 and is currently working with Santon Electric at the future Shepherd of the Valley facility. He’s found solid footing in…
There’s a “new” face at the IBEW Local 573 union hall in Champion. On Friday, July 8, Todd Ambrose was sworn in as the new business manager/financial secretary for a three-year term. At the top of his priority list: building on the “brotherhood” aspect of the organization. “I want to put the time and effort…
Third-year apprentice James Tate is grateful he’s in a union apprenticeship. His story begins after college graduation. He earned a criminal justice degree. “I knew in that field I wouldn’t make the best salary,” Tate said. “I always liked to work outside, work with my hands.” Working a “desk job” didn’t sound appealing. “I didn’t…
Throughout high school, Alex Birtalan didn’t want to go to college. “I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I didn’t want to just shoot in the dark” and have loans to pay back later, he said. His father, a sheet metal tradesman, approached Birtalan about joining a trade. “I always remember him saying good…
For Brogan Kenneally, making the switch from military life to full-time electrician has been smooth. The fourth-year apprentice served with the Ohio National Guard for six years, which coincided with his apprenticeship. Kenneally is currently working at University Electric in Youngstown. Easy balancing act “IBEW Local 573 was able to help me balance military obligations…
While giving different career paths a go, it was electricity that caused a lightbulb to go off for Grace Morrison. “During my life I’ve had a lot of different career experiences,” she said. Her background includes licensed cosmetology to customer service and management. “I wanted to do something that mattered,” Morrison said. She’s currently working…
It was while he was enrolled at Youngstown State University that Ahren Peplow realized college wasn’t for him. “I bounced between nursing, education and criminal justice majors,” he said. “I couldn’t find anything I truly enjoyed. Then I remembered I took a residential wiring class in high school that I loved,” Peplow recalled. He got…