Building Trades News

Local Apprentices Stand Out at Regional Competition

On Saturday, May 20, twenty apprentices from the Ironworkers gathered at the apprenticeship hall for Locals 433 and 416 for a regional competition pitting apprentices from California, Arizona, and Nevada against each other for the honor of representing the region at an international skills competition in St. Louis, Missouri.

From 7 am until 2 pm, they showed the skills they learned from the union instructors in such technical areas as:

• Burning and welding
• Rigging and instrumentation
• Rigging and knots
• Layout
• Vertical column climb

Three apprentices from Los Angeles and Orange Counties represented the Ironworkers Locals 433 and 416: Justin Carrasco, Ironworkers 433; Cory Moen, Ironworkers 433; and Quincy Lunford, Ironworkers 416. Justin and Cory came in first and second place, respectively, in the competition and will represent us in St. Louis in September.

This prestigious competition takes place every other year and features Ironworkers from across the United States and Canada.

Paul Martinez, an apprenticeship coordinator at the 433, 416 training hall, said that the value of the investment made in our apprenticeship programs “can be seen by today’s results.” He added, “We have a world class facility and top notch instructors here and the fact the top two apprentices in this competition came out of our program is a testament to it.”