“We have a great product, but we’re not necessarily attracting as many candidates as we want,” says Michael Mooney, president and business manager of Local 18 in Wisconsin. “By getting the best candidates, the employers are getting the best employees and the unions are getting the best members. It’s a win/win.”
a terrific future. The other is a college pathway that requires a Bachelors degree in arts or science and leads to various positions on the management side. We explain to the recruits the kinds of personality traits that tend to favor those positions.
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We direct students to some of the campuses we’ve partnered with and the programs they offer that could lead them to a job in our industry.” CAL-SMACNA’s rollout will occur in April, but Walker admits it’s been a challenge to develop the college pathway. “It’s not as easy as the trade side because we’re not counselors,” he says. “The best we can do is provide resources and promote awareness that there are two ways into the industry. We’re going to give interested applicants a lot more on the trade side, but we don’t want to avoid the management side because there’s a huge need out there. Those businesses are competing with general, plumbing, and electrical contractors.” Gary Myers, vice-president of marketing/business development at Intech Mechanical, thinks this two-pronged approach is the right one. “As a business owner, I need people to come into our industry from every level, and it’s not necessarily only a tradesperson in the field,” he says. “I need engineers, administrators, and project managers. I need all kinds of people coming out of high school saying, ‘Why do I want to get into construction?’” Dion Abril, executive administrator, Western States Council of Sheet Metal, Air Rail and Transportation Workers of California, Arizona, Nevada, and Hawaii, views Choose Bigger as a benefit for both SMACNA and SMART. “This is an opportunity for CAL-SMACNA and all the contractors to highlight what they do,” Abrial says. “It’s an opportunity for them to grow their membership and provide work for our members, too.” The power of Choose Bigger as a marketing tool lies in its ability to evolve to meet the needs of the specific area, bringing the sheet metal industry into the forefront and sharing the news about the great opportunities with qualified candidates everywhere. As Michael Mooney, president and business manager of Local 18 in Wisconsin, where Choose Bigger began, points out, “We have a great product, but we’re not necessarily attracting as many candidates as we want. By getting the best candidates, the employers are getting the best employees and the unions are getting the best members. It’s a win/win.”▪ Cairine Caughill is a freelance writer based in Toronto, Canada. When she’s not writing, she enjoys travel, baking, lively discussions at her book club, and spending time at the family cottage in the Muskokas.
