College or a Trade? You Can Do Both.

By Michael McConnell

Thanks to a partnership between SMART, SMACNA, and a community college, sheet metal apprentices in California’s Bay Area can earn a two-year associate degree along with their journeyperson license.

When Zachary Upton finishes his sheet metal apprenticeship in 2027, he’ll graduate with more than just a journeyperson license. He’ll also have an associate degree in sheet metal building science.

That’s thanks to an uncommon partnership between Los Altos Hills, California-based Foothill College, Local 104 in Livermore, California, and Bay Area SMACNA. The community college is one of a few nationwide to offer sheet metal apprentices the chance to earn a free two-year degree while they complete their union training.

According to Local 104 and SMACNA contractors, the blending of union training with college courses produces graduates who are better prepared for their futures—whatever they may hold.

For Upton, taking college courses makes a sheet metal career even more exciting. “It’s opened possibilities,” the third-year apprentice says. “I love being in this trade. If I can get some sort of degree that will allow me to do even more of it, why not?”

Upton’s comments are the kind that Tim Myres and Chris Allen like to hear. Myres is a member of Local 104 and administrator of the union’s Bay Area Industry Training Fund. Allen is apprenticeship dean at Foothill College. When he was an Indiana resident, Myres worked with Fort Wayne, Indiana based Local 20 to set up a sheet metal associate degree program at an area community college. After relocating to Northern California, Myres was eager to establish a similar program in that region. He partnered with Allen in 2019 to get it started at Foothill. Under the program, sheet metal students at Foothill earn college credits for general education requirements through their apprentice classes and on-the-job training. For three other required courses—English, Humanities, and Ethnic Studies— students can take them online or in-person at the Local 104 training center.

Changing perceptions

By offering college-level courses for an in-demand career, Myres says the program overcomes one of the longstanding obstacles to attracting young people to construction: the perception that it’s not a career for smart people. “We always say we’re higher education,” he says. “This proves it. Now, we can say when you graduate from our program you can have an associate degree as a journeyperson.”

And since tuition for the Foothill courses is covered by the union, the students have a chance to further their education without being saddled with college debt, like many peers may be. It’s not just students who are impressed by the opportunity to earn a free two-year college degree. For a lot of parents who are apprehensive about their child signing up for a vocational career, it offers some reassurance, Myres says.

“There are a lot of parents who still think it doesn’t require intellectual skills to succeed in a construction trade,” Myres says. “They have not been educated on the high level of critical thinking that an individual needs to be a successful tradesperson. And so now with this degree program, we’re making that clear. You can have a college degree for free. Absolutely zero cost. And an individual can be working, learning a high-paying skill, getting benefits—all at the same time. So that’s become a selling point.”

A great recruiting tool

Allen, the apprenticeship dean at Foothill, agrees. “I think it’s a great recruitment tool,” he says. “There’s a narrative in our society that says college is the only way. And really this work is to shift that narrative.” That shift needs to take place among school staff as well as parents, he adds. “You have to educate the educators, so they can educate the parents. I’m not trying to tell you to choose between the apprenticeship and the college—you can do both, and we’re proving it.”

That flexibility is what attracted 32-year-old Brian Jensen to the program. Jensen is about to start his third year as a sheet metal apprentice at Peterson Mechanical Inc. in Sonoma, California. “When you get out, not only do you have all the skills you learned through the apprenticeship, but now you have a degree from college, too, which kind of sets you apart,” he says. “It just looks a little better on a resume.”

Paul Irwin is vice president at Bell Products, a SMACNA mechanical contractor in Napa. He’s also co-chairman of the Bay Area Industry Training Fund, where labor and management work to attract people to sheet metal and HVAC careers. He says the Foothill College degree program makes his job recruiting industry workers easier.

“They’ve done a stellar job improving the apprenticeship program by bringing in this education component,” Irwin says. “It just really makes it more attractive to those individuals who might be considering a college degree. It’s been well accepted by all the apprentices. It’s been lauded by all of the contractor members. I think it just raises the bar.”

Evolved sheet metal work

Irwin says sheet metal work today is much different than when he was learning the trade decades ago. Apprentices need the extra education and focus on communication skills the college program provides. “All the trainees recognize the complexity of our industry,” he says. “We’re handing apprentices iPads and sending them out on job sites. That’s certainly not the way I came through the industry. But having an apprentice who understands technology and the digital environment—that’s not anything that they really learn anywhere else.”

Kenneth Taylor, 32, is a journeyperson sheet metal worker at Critchfield Mechanical in San Jose. Even though he completed his sheet metal apprentice training a year ago, he’s earning an associate degree through Foothill College. He only has a few credits to go. “So, I figured why not?” he says. “It’s only beneficial for my future. I’m just trying to work my way up the ladder.”

Taylor says he enjoys taking college-level English and learning about different cultures in his humanities class. And it’s good to “take a little break” from just studying sheet metal, he adds.

Earning an associate degree is currently optional in Local 104—a fact Myres is hoping to change for future apprentices. Based on the success of the program, Foothill is expanding the degrees it offers apprentices. As of July 1, the community college will offer associate degrees in air conditioning mechanics and in testing, adjusting, and balancing (TAB) science.

“It just proves what SMACNA and SMART can do when they work together,” Irwin says. “Labor and management don’t always agree on everything,” he says. “But for the training of apprentices, labor and management are lockstep on this. This is something that we can agree on.” ▪

Michael McConnell’s experience encompasses B2B and B2C copywriting, online journalism, and newspaper reporting. The former editor of a monthly magazine for HVAC and sheet metal contractors, he’s always interested in finding out the stories behind interesting people and projects. Contact him at mrmcconnell36@gmail.com.