ASHLAND, Ky.— The Tri-State Building and Trades Council, in partnership with North America’s Building Trades Unions, recently announced that it will host two Apprenticeship Open House-Facility Tour events on Friday, Nov. 18.

The first is 9 a.m. at the Plumbers and Steamfitters Local 248, located at 924 Greenup Ave. in Ashland, and the second is 1-3 p.m. at IBEW Local 317/NECA-JATC, located at 1850 Madison Ave. in Huntington.

These events are part of a nationwide series of events planned by North America’s Building Trades Unions to commemorate National Apprenticeship Week as recognized by the U.S. Department of Labor.

“Our apprenticeship programs are the backbone of the unionized construction industry,” Mark Johnson, business manager of Tri-State Building Trades Unions, said. “For over 100 years, we have not only provided the safest, most highly skilled and productive construction craft professionals in the world, but we have provided career training opportunities in our Tri-State communities that are literally transforming lives and families. I highly encourage those in our business community, guidance counselors, as well as our local public officials and media to attend this event and learn how these types of training programs can address a wide array of challenges, each offering well-paying lifetime substantial careers in the construction industry.”

Representatives and information from other craft union training programs will also be in attendance and available at each event.

Throughout the U.S., North America’s Building Trades’ Unions and their signatory contractors invest over $1 billion annually to fund and operate more than 1,600 state of the art joint labor contracting training centers across America. When wages and benefits paid to apprentices are included, the investment soars to over $10 billion per year.