Overview

On March 30, Team NABTU kicked off its national Opportunity Pipeline Tour in Columbus, OH at the Plumbers & Pipefitters 189 training center. This event featured impactful labor, government, community, and industry leaders including Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther, Speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives Jason Stephens, House Minority Leader Allison Russo, City Council President Shannon Hardin, NAACP President Nana Watson, representatives from Intel, Honda, Bechtel, Turner, and Kokosing, and more.

To cap off the event, two Building Futures ARP graduates – Charles Straley and Mackenzie Quinn – shared their stories on how a career opportunity in the building trades changed the trajectory of their lives.

In The News

Spectrum News – “It’s not every day that you go to a job interview and you tell him that you struggled with drugs and alcohol and that you’ve been to prison twice and in and out of jail and stuff like that, and they hire you,” said Charles Straley, a Building Futures Graduate of Ironworkers Local 172. “My life has completely changed today. This is a miracle. I don’t only have a career, I don’t only have insurance, I don’t only have benefits, I run work, I’m a family man, I just had a son, I’m engaged today. I’m out here trying to help my community and trying to help people go through the same path that I went through.”

Columbus Dispatch – “Local, state and national construction trade union leaders gathered in Columbus on Thursday with business, government and community officials to celebrate what they say is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for union construction workers in the region. They also touted apprentice and pre-apprentice programs meant to bring more veterans, women, minorities and lower-income people into construction careers to meet demand from contractors for workers.”

Sharable Resources

Check out the video recording from the event.