Ron McGuire said he knows he has some really big shoes to fill in his new position as program administrator for the International Training Institute (ITI), the education arm of the unionized sheet metal industry, following in the footsteps of Mike Harris, who was promoted to the role of administrator as of Jan. 1.
“Mike did such an amazing job, and he held the position for so long, his accomplishments as program administrator will be hard to top,” McGuire said. “But I look forward to the challenge.”
McGuire, who started his career at St. Paul Technical College in St. Paul, Minnesota, didn’t originally see himself entering the sheet metal trade. “That was something my father did,” he said. But after a brief stint in college at the University of Minnesota, McGuire took a summer job at a sheet metal shop which led to his enrollment and subsequent graduation from St. Paul Technical College.
After graduation, McGuire entered the union apprenticeship and graduated in 1997. Three years later, he took a computer-assisted drawing (CAD) class and jumped into HVAC design as part of a five-member team at United Sheet Metal. Not long after that, McGuire took that experience to Sheet Metal Workers Local 10 in White Bear Lake, Minnesota, where he taught building information modeling (BIM) as a part-time instructor.
Going back to his roots, McGuire spent two years as a full-time instructor at St. Paul Technical College before accepting a position with the ITI as its building information modeling (BIM) specialist in 2009.
In 2020, he was brought on as ITI’s director of research, development, and technology. As program administrator, McGuire said he hopes he can make his own mark on the position.
“I’m extremely excited to take on this role,” he added. “I am approaching each task with the attitude of: ‘what can I do to add to the success of ITI and the industry?’ I’m ready to get started and continue to build on the great work everyone at ITI has already accomplished.”
As to those shoes McGuire said he had to fill? Harris has confidence that will come easier than he thinks.
“I can’t think of a better candidate to fill the position,” Harris said. “Ron will do great.”
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.
