NABTU brought its national Opportunity Pipeline Tour to Austin’s UA Local 286 Training Center on Wednesday, June 18, to showcase the gold-standard apprenticeship and apprenticeship readiness training programs preparing Texans for high-demand, family-sustaining careers in the skilled trades. 

The event featured a tour of UA Local 286’s world-class training facility, a press conference and speaking program with national, state and local leaders, and a graduation ceremony for ARP students entering Central Texas Registered Apprenticeship programs.

Central Texas is home to some of the most high-profile energy, data center, and tech infrastructure projects in the country, and the region is quickly growing a new generation of building trades professionals to build and maintain these projects. National building trades training programs — industry-driven and tuition-free — are expanding access to family-sustaining careers, closing workforce gaps, and launching middle-class careers for young people, career switchers, veterans, and underserved communities across Texas.