Ironworker union will move 700-person instructor training program to Ann Arbor

The training will showcase the county's educational facilities, along with generating business at the area's hotels and restaurants, said Mary Kerr, president of the Ann Arbor Area Convention and Visitor’s Bureau.

Several members of Kerr's staff traveled to Washington, D.C. last September to make a presentation to the union to move its training session to facilities at Washtenaw Community College.

After holding the event in California for the past 25 years, the board voted unanimously to support the move. Union president Joseph Hunt cited WCC’s strong technical focus, excellent shop facilities and history of supporting union instructor training programs as some of the reasons for the change.

Washtenaw County has played host to several major labor-related training programs, including the United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters Instructor Training Program and the National Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee for the Electrical Industry. Those two events brought 4,000 visitors to the county in 2009, generating an estimated $10 million in economic activity.

“Washtenaw Community College has facilities perfectly suited for hands-on training and expertise working with union instructor training programs in the building trades,” WCC President Larry Whitworth said in a prepared statement.

The move was a joint effort among  WCC, the Visitor’s Bureau, Eastern Michigan University and the Ann Arbor Marriott Ypsilanti Hotel at Eagle Crest. EMU will host the event's opening and graduating ceremonies and house some of the attendees in its residence halls, while the Marriott will serve as the headquarters hotel for participants.

The collaboration, Kerr said, is what made Washtenaw County appealing to Ironworkers.

“We think that our entire community works with us to roll out the red carpet and really welcome their attendees, and we definitely have a track record of that,” she said. “We are a labor-friendly town.”

The end of the training will overlap with the start of the Ann Arbor Art Fairs, scheduled for July 21-24.