Twenty seasoned apprentices and craft trainees sweated it out under the sun and the watchful eye of judges and several hundred spectators at the 2011 San Diego Associated Builders and Contractors San Diego Apprenticeship Craft Champions Competition at the Training Trust Academy.
Competitors in electrical, plumbing and sheet metal crafts demonstrated their skills to win the right to represent San Diego in the 2012 ABC National Craft Championships in San Antonio, Texas.
In the Electrical competition, the winner was Jorge Sevilla of Bergelectric in Escondido. Second place went to Daniel Martin of Ink Electric in Lemon Grove; third place went to Wesley Thompson of Laser Electric in San Diego.
Sevilla said he was nervous at first. “Once I got started, it was just like being at work.” He gives credit to his employer for helping him prepare and supporting him through the competition. A big contingent from Bergelectric was on hand to celebrate Sevilla’s win.
The Plumbing champion is Chris Fields of Pacific Rim Mechanical in San Diego. Joshua Kelly of HPS Mechanical in San Diego took second place; Neil Talmadge of Sherwood Mechanical in Poway took third place.
Fields had a large cheering section on hand including his wife, parents, in-laws and extended family who all let out a huge cheer when he was named the winner.
The Sheet Metal champion is Jason McElveny of West Coast Air Conditioning in El Cajon, with second place going to Guillermo Mendoza. McElveny said the competition was challenging and threw him a few curves, but he said he used his math skills and thought problems through to find the best solutions possible.
Now in its 10th year, the Associated Builders and Contractors San Diego Apprenticeship Craft Champions Competition tests the skills of the best of the best. The competition emphasizes the important role craft skills training plays in construction by evaluating contestants’ technical knowledge of their craft as well as their skill and talent.
Contestants must first successfully complete hundreds of hours of classroom training and thousands of hours of practical field experience to be eligible to compete. Apprentices and craft trainees who score high marks on the written exam are invited to participate in the skills portion of the competition to determine the San Diego local champions.
The San Diego ABC Apprenticeship Program has a long tradition of national winners having won 11 medals in the last nine years. Sheet metal apprentice Richard Raynor became San Diego’s fourth national Gold Medalist in 2011, making him the national champion in his craft. Raynor’s successor this year, Jason McElveny, says he hopes to meet and talk with Raynor, get some tips and learn from Raynor’s successful experience so he can bring the championship back to San Diego for a second year running.
North County Trade Tech Students Enjoy Field Trip
Twelve students who are enrolled in a construction class at North County Trade Tech High School visited the ABC Training Academy on September 28th for a hands-on class and demonstration on rigging. The rigging class, taught by Bob Harrell, was attended by journeymen as well as the Trade Tech students. During the lab phase, students enjoyed a unique opportunity to ask questions of the journeymen and instructor about the rigging topic and the construction industry in general. Several seniors have indicated an interest in a construction apprenticeship after graduation.
HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL 4TH ANNUAL NAWIC MAGIC CAMP
The National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC) recently brought together a number of construction groups and apprenticeship programs in San Diego to sponsor the 4th Annual MAGIC (Mentoring a Girl in Construction) Camp. This hands-on camp for girls was held during the week of June 20-24 at the Stanley E. Foster Construction Tech Academy campus at Kearny High School.
This summer camp experience for female high school students interested in non-traditional construction careers is a unique hands-on experience that exposes girls to the basic skills of carpentry, electrical, plumbing, sheet metal, and tile setting. MAGIC Camp gives the girls a real Can Do Attitude and introduces them to a lucrative career path. The young women also learn basic skills with hand and power tools as well as heavy construction equipment.
This year’s camp attracted thirty-three young women – eighteen of whom were returning “journeyman” campers from previous years. While the “apprentices” practiced the basic skills, the “journeymen” constructed two portable 8 x 10 storage buildings for campus use. Girls from a number of area schools participated including students from North County Trade Tech Charter School in Vista.
ABC is a proud sponsor of this very unique outreach approach to young women about careers in construction. This year ABC conducted a day-long hands-on series of activities which introduced the basics of plumbing and pipefitting. A special thanks goes to the following who donated time or materials to the plumbing day: Mike McRae, ABC instructor; Annaleis Widmar, journeyperson with ICS; Bill Parker with Pac Rim Mechanical; Nathan Berkowitz with Viega; Bill Millward with Spears Mfg; Brett Vickers with Ridgid Tools; and El Cajon Plumbing Supply.
San Diego NAWIC was recently named Partner of the Year by San Diego Unified School District for their many volunteer projects including MAGIC Camp and the CAD Drafting Competition.
Sherry Yarbrough named YWCA TWIN Award Recipient for 2011
Sherry Yarbrough, Executive Director of the Associated Builders and Contractors Apprenticeship Training Trust, was selected as a recipient of the prestigious YWCA Tribute to Women & Industry (TWIN) Award. The TWIN Award recognizes successful women executives throughout the United States for their outstanding achievements and positive contributions to their organizations. Recipients were honored at the 32nd Annual TWIN Awards luncheon held on June 21.
“I am extremely honored to be named as a TWIN Award Recipient and to be included among so many other truly outstanding and dedicated women, especially for something I enjoy so much and believe in wholeheartedly,” said Yarbrough.
Yarbrough has devoted her professional life as an educator to providing individuals the opportunity to better their lives. Yarbrough administers and oversees an award-winning, nationally recognized, accredited training program for merit-shop state and federally registered apprentices. The program offers a three-four year training program in five different construction crafts including electrical, plumbing, pipefitting, sheet metal/HVAC and electronic systems technician.
In June 2011, the most recent class of 80 graduates received their state, federal and ABC journeyman certificates after completing a rigorous four-year program. Since the San Diego Apprenticeship Training Trust program began in 1989, over 2,000 graduates have launched rewarding careers. San Diego County’s construction industry has benefited from hiring local, well-trained, highly skilled professionals.
Construction remains one of the last few overwhelmingly male-dominated career fields. According to the U.S. Census Bureau and the National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC), construction related jobs account for approximately 66% of all jobs in the United States. The workforce is comprised of 90.4% men and 9.6% women (2006). However, women-owned firms are slowly on the rise.
Yarbrough has been a dedicated contributor during her 30 years of leadership as an active member of NAWIC. She is a devoted member of the NAWIC Mentoring Committee which sponsors MAGIC Camp (Mentoring a Girl in Construction) – a summer week-long hands-on camp during which high school girls have the opportunity to explore the different construction trades and learn from women in the construction industry.
Yarbrough is a founding Board Member of the North County Trade Tech Charter High School. This partnership between ABC San Diego and “Trade Tech” as it is known has provided an alternative educational path for many at-risk youth. The school was born from a hands-on, project based learning program through a social services agency that provides live-in facilities for at-risk adolescent boys. The school began in 2008 with 40 freshmen and has added one grade level each year. In the 2011-12 school year it will serve 160 to 180 students and graduate its first senior class.
Yarbrough is a Certified Master Trainer by the National Center for Construction & Research. Among the recognition Yarbrough has received within the construction industry, she received a Special Achievement Award from the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Apprenticeship & Training; was named Outstanding Individual Contributing to Apprenticeship and the Outstanding North Carolina Apprenticeship Program by the North Carolina Department of Labor, Division of Apprenticeship. She also received a Champion of the Merit Shop Award from the Coalition for Fair Employment in Construction.
Years of dedication and hard work have paid off for apprentices and craft trainees who graduated with their apprenticeship and journeyman certificates on Friday, June 10 from the Associated Builders and Contractors Apprenticeship Training program.
Eighty students in the Class of 2011 from the San Diego region have completed a skilled trades apprenticeship and craft training program in crafts such as plumbing and pipefitting, electrical, electronic systems technician and sheet metal. Their course of study included up to four years of classroom training and thousands of hours of practical field experience.
Electrical apprentice Arlan B. Roest of Valley Center was named Outstanding Graduate of the Class of 2011. He works for Rowan Electric, Inc. This year’s Honor Graduates are also electrical apprentices: Ryan C. Blakney of Alpine; Daniel R. Gonzales of Chula Vista; and Marcus S. Matson and Michael R. Taylor of San Diego. Blakney works for R.L. Electric, Inc; Gonzales for Bergelectric; Matson for Ickler Electric and Taylor for Laser Electric.
Thanks to a unique partnership between ABC and the San Diego Community College District, all of the graduates also earned significant credit toward an Associate of Science degree through supplemental classroom instruction specific to their hands-on training programs in the various construction trades. Completion of remaining general education courses plus electives allows apprentices to graduate with their Associate’s degree at the same time they earn their apprenticeship certificates.
“The construction industry has grown more and more complex,” said ABC Apprenticeship Training Trust Chairman Matt Harbin. “Change comes quickly and our training programs must stay current to meet the demand for a more skilled work force. We’re proud of our students and their accomplishments.”
“The exceptional level of skill that contractors have come to expect from ABC Apprenticeship Training program graduates is also what makes them so successful in achieving their career goals year after year,” said ABC Apprenticeship Training Trust Executive Director Sherry Yarbrough.
Until the late 1970s, mechanical and electrical contractors were forced to join a union if they wanted to train their employees in a skilled trades apprenticeship program. A small but dedicated group of merit shop contractors founded ABC San Diego in 1976. The chapter’s first apprenticeship program standards were submitted to the state’s Department of Industrial Relations/Division of Apprenticeship Standards for approval several years later and ABC began training apprentice electricians. Plumbing and pipefitting programs were added, followed by the chapter’s sheet metal program. In 2005, the first class of Electronic Systems Technicians graduated. Since then, thousands of individuals have graduated from the ABC Apprenticeship Training Trust including this year’s graduates.
In 1970, 30 percent of the nation's construction was performed merit shop and six of the top 400 construction firms were ABC members. Today, merit shops accounts for more than 80 percent of all construction across the country, and ABC's membership has grown to include more than half of the top 400 construction companies in the United States.
Richard Raynor wins Sheet Metal title at 2011 ABC National Craft Championships
San Diego County had more than just the San Diego State Aztecs in nationwide competition this spring. Three construction craft champions represented San Diego Associated Builders and Contractors at the ABC National Craft Championships, held at the ABC National Education Convention & Expo last week in San Antonio, Texas. This prestigious competition brings together the top apprentices and trainees in the country who vie to be named “number one” in each of thirteen trades.
Electrician apprentice Jacob Henselmeier, employed and sponsored by Bergelectric; plumbing apprentice Ryan Daley, employed and sponsored by California Comfort Systems; and Richard Raynor, sheet metal apprentice employed and sponsored by with Pacific Rim Mechanical faced off among national finalists from local, regional and state competitions around the country after winning ABC San Diego’s local competition in December.
Raynor became San Diego’s fourth Gold Medalist, winning the sheet metal competition. Sherry Yarbrough, ABC Apprenticeship Training Trust Executive Director, was in San Antonio cheering Raynor, Daley and Henselmeier on. “The San Diego ABC Apprenticeship Program has a long tradition of national winners having won 11 medals in the last 11 years. We are very proud of all of our competitors and especially Richard for bringing home the Gold for the Sheet Metal Program,” said Yarbrough. 
A convention highlight, the ABC National Craft Championships event started in 1987 as a way to recognize the high quality of craft training in construction careers. The competition emphasizes the important role craft skills training plays in construction, by evaluating contestants’ knowledge of their craft as well as their skill and talent. Seasoned apprentices and craft trainees from around the country compete toe-to-toe to determine the top three craftpersons in each trade.
To compete in the national event, contestants must first successfully complete hundreds of hours of classroom training and thousands of hours of practical field experience to be eligible for preliminary local competitions.
The first part of the competition features a written test of the competitor’s technical and theoretical knowledge. On day two, apprentices and craft trainees are assigned their workspaces, and given the plans, tools and materials they need to build professional projects. Judges observe and inspect the ongoing work being performed. When time is called, the judges move in for the final inspection. All
of this takes place before a live audience. The results are announced in award ceremonies the following day.
“The pressure is high on our champions,” said Yarbrough. “San Diego has an excellent record at the nationals. It’s due to the high expectations we have in our training program for apprentices and trainees day in and day out.
“The exceptional level of skill that contractors have come to expect from ABC Apprenticeship Training program graduates is also what makes them so successful in this competition year after year,” noted Yarbrough. 
