When leaders of Philadelphia’s building trades unions gathered Thursday, along with a squadron of local elected officials and the president of North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU), the fully packed room quickly took on the atmosphere of a victory party.

At the event, hosted by NABTU at the Laborers’ District Council Training Center in North Philadelphia, labor leaders and politicians spoke of a future in which a growing population of union tradespeople — one that’s more diverse than ever before — rides federal infrastructure investments and state-funded projects to a middle-class living, or better.

“When you look back 10 years from now, … you’re going to see whole communities changed,” NABTU president Sean McGarvey said.