Mike Harris, program administrator of the International Training Institute (ITI), presented five sheet metal training centers with Platinum Accreditation during the Eastern Regional Apprenticeship Conference this spring.
Locals who earned the designation include Local 85 in Georgia; Local 27, in Farmingdale, New Jersey; Local 38 in Brewster, New York; Local 100 from the Washington, D.C. area; and Local 71 in Buffalo, New York.
Platinum Accreditation is difficult to achieve with only about 13% of the JATCs across the country earning the distinction. Training centers must provide the ITI detailed documentation of everything from business practices to class curriculum, program training plans and details of how each course will be taught to apprentices. The staff also has to show proof of recruitment efforts and collaboration with local vocational schools and be willing to listen to and work with local contractors to keep the curriculum relevant and current. Programs are reevaluated for their status with the ITI every five years.
More than 14,000 apprentices are registered at 148 training facilities across the United States and Canada. The ITI is jointly sponsored by SMART, the International Association of Sheet Metal Air, Rail and Transportation Workers and the Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors’ National Association (SMACNA).
ITI supports apprenticeship and advanced career training for union workers in the sheet metal heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC), welding and industrial, architectural and ornamental, and service and testing, adjusting and balancing industry throughout the United States and Canada. Headquartered in Fairfax, Virginia, the ITI develops and produces a standardized sheet metal curriculum supported by a wide variety of training materials free of charge to sheet metal apprentices and journeymen.
For more information about ITI and its available training curriculum for members covering sheet metal trade work, visit the website or call 703-739-7200.
