BEOC’s Buffalo Build pre-apprenticeship program hits the ground running
What seemed like one of the worst things to happen to Andrew Williams Jr. led to something that just might be one of the best. Williams was one of 1,550 workers laid off last November when Sumitomo Rubber USA unexpectedly closed its long-standing plant in Tonawanda. A husband and father of four, Williams and his family suddenly faced a scary uncertainty.
“I created a lifestyle around this job,” says Williams, now 37. “My life was pretty much set. I had good health care, good ben efits. I made good money. I had established a good life for my family. And the next thing you know, they shut down the plant. Out of nowhere.”
A few months later, Williams was among the first graduating class of UB’s Buffalo Educational Opportunity Center’s (BEOC) Buffalo Build pre-apprentice program for construction workers. Within a few weeks of graduation, he got a job with United Rentals and soon jumped to Scrufari Construction as an apprentice carpenter where, incidentally, he now works at UB’s Flint Village Apartments on the North Campus.
A difficult crossroads has led to a new beginning. Williams earns decent wages with the prospect of much more, learn ing skills he can take wherever he goes. He carries a sense of optimism as great as he ever had. “I had an idea before,” Wil liams says. “Now I have a plan. Before it was a thought. It’s an action now.
“I’m on a crash course exactly where I want to be.”
As one of the 14 graduates of BEOC’s first Buffalo Build program — including one woman in what has been a historically male field — Williams is a glowing example of the success of the nine-week, paid, direct entry, pre-apprenticeship readiness program that aligns with local unions. It’s another chapter in the BEOC’s self-labeled “redemption stories” — people whose lives underwent a surge of opportunity and resurgence.
This time, Williams benefited from the BEOC’s almost $2 million state grant to enhance training for New Yorkers. The first class has earned solid reviews and results, from students to instructors to employers to the administrators executing the program.
“The Buffalo Build program is about getting underrepresented members of the Buffalo and Western New York communities into apprenticeships with skilled trade unions,” says Benjamin Hilligas, BEOC executive director. “From the earliest stages of discussion with New York State Empire State Development, SUNY system administration, University at Buffalo leadership, skilled trade unions and elected officials, our sin gular focus has been preparing students for the life-changing opportunities that a career and membership in a skilled trade union provides.”
The ultimate goal of Buffalo Build is to place students with local trade unions, giving them the skills to succeed once there, says Mark Sell, Buffalo Build coordinator and instructor. The apprenticeship readiness pro gram aims to educate students with 15 different building trade unions.
“Students are exposed to the roles and responsibilities of a building trade apprentice and learn about the daily tasks that each trade performs,” says Sell.
“In order to increase the likelihood of long-term employment within a trade, our pro gram aims to educate students about the nature of construction work, including the skills required, benefits of the industry, as well as challenges of construction work, so they can make an informed decision on the right trade for them.”
Students visited union training centers and met local representatives who told them about required skills and cur rent opportunities, and often provided a hands-on workshop for students to gain exposure to the nature of the work.
Williams explains it in a more immediate way.
“They taught us how people are,” he says. “How the job sites are. Tools. Lingo, Etiquette. Mark Sell did a great job pre paring us. He was saying be sure to be on time. He prepared us for the field.”
The program has many sup port services, Sell says, helping its students overcome employment-related challenges by “providing wraparound ser vices for things like childcare and transportation.”
Upon completion of the program, students have six certifications: MC3, Green Construction, First Aid/CPR, Flagging, OSHA 10 and an EOC certificate of completion. These certificates make their applications competitive, according to Sell.
Early results would back that up. As of late June, Buffalo Build has placed six students with three different union apprenticeship programs, Sell notes. Many students have been interviewed and await job placement.
Two of the 14 graduates in this first class now work for Local 71 Smart Sheet Metal, presently on the job site at the new Buffalo Bills stadium under construction in Orchard Park. And there are two more groups coming up. Fourteen others — including two women — were accepted for the second class. BEOC officials are interviewing applicants for a third class.
Shyheim Buchanan, 29, is one of the graduates building the Bills’ new home.
“I heard about the pre apprenticeship program and was interested,” says Buchanan. “I was trying to get in a union the last two years. The MC3 program is a big thing to have on your resume.
“Mark Sell was the best. He gave us thorough explanations of working for a union. I was able to rub shoulders with important people and learned sometimes it not what you know but who you know. It’s a perfect program to start your career.” Williams says Buffalo Build has given him a realistic and doable five-year goal.
“I’m going to be a journey man, master carpenter,” he says. “Within six or seven years, I can go anywhere in the country and get work. I have the skills I need to start a company. Even if I want to freelance. I will have the skills to do so. Hilligas often says the BEOC’s mission is all about the graduating students and the new opportunities they never had