ST. LOUIS — More construction cones and cranes are popping up around the City of St. Louis. The lead trainer with Iron Workers Union 396 Construction Training School in west St. Louis says companies are having difficulty finding enough workers to fill open positions over the past five years.
He said now is a great time to start ironworking and you can get trained for free.
The Construction Training School apprenticeship is a 4-year program that gives people specialized training. Apprentices meet four times a year for a week at a time. In between the trainings, the apprentices are sent out on jobs to work and earn.
Training coordinator Billy Borton said ironworkers can start by earning around $50,000 a year with the potential to earn around $150,000 with more experience.
This free ironworker apprenticeship takes in about 20-50 new apprentices every year with an application deadline in January. But if you're looking to start a new trade right away, there's another program with the Madison County Employment and Training Department, and it covers the cost of your training.
Our reporter spoke with Tony Fuhrmann, the Director of the Employment and Training Department for Madison County.
"There's a big demand for entry level individuals into those fields with those credentials that they can actually learn and do the hands on things right away," he said. "A lot of the four-year Universities. No offense, but it's a lot of theory, not a lot of hands on."
Fuhrmann added, "Our funding goes to specific population. So low-income population. It goes to dislocated workers. So people receiving unemployment benefits or eligible for unemployment."
The employment center uses federal funding under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act to pay for people's training beyond welding.
The grant money covers training in industries like health care, industrial and manufacturing just to name a few.
There's also a youth program aimed at getting high school graduates straight to work and to train people who have special needs.
The Madison County training department also offers free resume coaching and job search help to everyone at their office in Wood River.