For those looking to get into the building and construction trades, there will be a council and apprentice open house from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. on Monday at the Indiana/Kentucky and Ohio Regional

Council of Carpenters and Millwrights building off the Industrial Parkway in Grayson.

“This is a good opportunity for people who want to learn a craft,” said Jerry Yates, a senior representative for the council.

He said their apprenticeship program takes about four years. They have classes once every three months.

“The apprentices work in between that time, so it’s not like they have to go to school for four years before they work,” Yates said. “They work while they are receiving their training.”

Apprentices get raises as they progress through the program.

Yates said that open houses like this really open people’s eyes to what they do in the building industry.

He added that some 500 students from local trade schools will be at the open house but anyone who is interested in the trade industries can attend.

Yates said this is an opportunity “especially with Braidy Industries coming into the area.”

Braidy Industries is building their new $1.3 billion aluminum rolling mill plant in Greenup County’s EastPark Industrial Center off of the Industrial Parkway near the interchange with Interstate 64. It is only a short distance away from the carpenters and millwrights’ building.

“Those things have to be built,” Yates said, adding local trade unions recently did work on Braidy Industries building in downtown Ashland, Kentucky. “We had union carpenters and other craft unions. We are very proud of that.”

The open house is being done in conjunction with National Apprenticeship Week and the event will have representatives from not only carpenters and millwrights, but also other trade unions like the brick masons, operating engineers, sheet metal workers, electricians, and boiler makers.  It is a joint venture between the various unions.

There will be a tour of the facility, a lunch, hands-on activities, a live demonstration and information about the apprenticeship program.

The building is located at 574 Carpenter’s Way but Yates said it doesn’t shop up on GPS yet. The best way to get there is to take the Industrial Parkway and turn at the veterans’ cemetery, go past that, the Cintas Building and the AT&T center and follow the road, which ends right at their building.