Tag Archives: skilled trades







Cody Hilliard and Kenny Lucas, of IBEW Local 64, at guidance counselors presentation about skilled trades.

Electricians school educators about skilled trades careers


The teachers became the students at an information session about skilled trades careers. Around 70 area guidance counselors and educators gathered at the Sheet Metal JAC Training Center in Boardman to learn about the many opportunities for young people in the building trades. Eric Davis, training director at the Warren Electrical JATC, was among the […]

Electrician working at Ultium Cells early on in the project.

Electrical contractors charged up: Optimistic outlook for 2024


[Following is the NECA-IBEW’s submission in the recently published Business Journal Growth Report 1 issue] A steady combination of commercial projects and residential work kept the energy high for NECA-IBEW Electricians in 2023. Overall, the signatory Mahoning Valley electrical contractors and IBEW union locals are keeping an optimistic outlook for 2024. IBEW Locals 64 and […]

IBEW Local 573 apprentice showing students at Mahoning Valley Skilled Trades Expo how to bend conduit.

Plug into a powerful future as an apprentice electrician


There are a variety of pathways to a rewarding, well-paying career. A college degree is conventional, but it’s not for everyone. Some people enjoy hands-on learning, and a skilled trade like an apprentice electrician, is a route to a great living without incurring much debt. Starting in the electrical trade can be done right out […]

Nate Castle, IBEW Local 573, explains conduit bending to students at the MVST Expo in Canfield.

Skilled Trades Expo offers glimpse into electrical trade


The idea of the Mahoning Valley Skilled Trades Expo is to have students get their hands dirty and find a potential career path they wouldn’t have otherwise considered. Nearly 5,000 students flocked to the new event center at the Canfield Fairgrounds between September 20 and 21. This was the fourth year for the event. There […]

Electrical apprentice shows high school students how to bend conduit.

Apprenticeship Week – Katie Gintert, a Local 573 electrical apprentice, wants to specialize in inside wiring after program


Katie Gintert is in her second year with IBEW Local 573 in Warren. She’s working to complete her inside wireman program. Gintert always liked to build things. She joined Habitat for Humanity in high school, and took wood shop classes. “I knew that I wanted to be hands-on, I knew I wanted construction after being […]

Nico Diiani in his service truck.

Apprenticeship Week – Nico Diianni sets sights on surveying, estimating


For the seventh year, National Apprenticeship Week will be observed as a way to recognize and celebrate apprentices and the organizations that offer these unique opportunities to their future workforces. Each day this week, we will introduce a local electrical apprentice, sharing why they chose to pursue a career in the building trades. There are […]

Michon Peterson talks to middle school students about joining trades.

Apprenticeship Week – Michon Peterson, Local 573 apprentice plans to travel while working


Michon Peterson is going places. He is nearing the end of his apprenticeship, and he plans to use his skillset to explore. The fourth-year apprentice with IBEW Local 573 in Warren wants to go out to the western United States. “I can work anywhere. I figured I might as well do that before I start […]

Are you smarter than a college graduate? The case for becoming an electrician, one of the highest-paying jobs that doesn’t require a college degree


Before ever stepping foot into the workforce, many college students have accumulated four years or more of student loan debt. And many of them experience shock or panic when they receive their first bill, some of whom haven’t even secured a full-time job yet. Last year, 69 percent of college students took out student loans, […]