Carpenters Union Training Facility in Richfield Helps Fill Jobs, Build Careers
Jim Mackinnon, Akron Beacon Journal
Brook Karnosh's career move involves shifting from working on one of the world's largest warships to woodworking as a carpenter. After four years of active Navy duty and traveling the world, she returned to Ohio, went into the reserves and got jobs in the private sector, including at Welty Building Co. As she looked for direction in her life, Karnosh found she likes carpentry.
She is now focusing on finishing training at the Northeast Ohio Carpenters’ Training Center in Richfield. The union training facility, a key part of the Ohio Carpenters’ Joint Apprenticeship & Training Program, is honing her skills and techniques aimed in part at helping her and others in skilled trades program get better-paying jobs.
The facility is one of four run by the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners union in Ohio. The Richfield campus, with 58,000 square feet of indoor area and 28,000 square feet of outdoor training area, is the largest of the group.
The Richfield facility is not only teaching people skills but also helping businesses find badly needed workers in a labor market that has way more job openings than job fillers.