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Electrical Companies, Workers Wired for Robust Year
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- The two locals of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and their partner contractors are wired to some of the largest projects in the Mahoning Valley, and the pace of these projects doesn’t appear to be letting up anytime soon, especially in Mahoning County, officials say.
“We’ve had full employment since the fall of 2011,” reports Jim Burgham, business manager of IBEW Local 64 in Youngstown. “We’ve seen improvements in all aspects of work – remodeling of existing buildings, store construction, as well as additional projects.”
Much of the work over the last year was dominated by mammoth building efforts such as V&M Star’s $650 million pipe mill in Youngstown, Burgham says. But as work on that project winds down, a stream of new projects is on the horizon.
Construction of the $100 million VAM finishing plant at V&M’s Youngstown site is slated to start soon, while IBEW contractors are moving forward on plans to help install the Hickory Bend natural gas processing complex in Springfield Township, Burgham reports.
Meantime, the IBEW is anticipating a busy year with the planned Hollywood Slots at Mahoning Valley Race Course – Penn-National’s $125 million racino in Austintown – a renovation at Salem Community Hospital, and the tower addition to St. Elizabeth Hospital’s Boardman campus and renovation projects at the hospital at 1044 Belmont Avenue.
“They’ll all provide strong employment through 2013 and well into 2014,” Burgham predicts. “The racino project isn’t awarded yet, but Penn National has committed to using local contractors, so it looks good.”
Local 64 boasts 325 members drawn mostly from Mahoning, the southern portion of Trumbull, and northern tiers of Columbiana counties, Burgham says.
School construction still provides a shot in the arm to the electrical trades, he notes. “A majority of the districts have taken advantage of the dollars made available to them, and there’s some local funding that’s given them the opportunity to build new schools.”
In Austintown, contractors are busy working on two new buildings to house the district’s elementary and middle schools, Burgham says. “We’re not to the point where we were before the recession, especially in the housing sector,” he remarks. “But, it’s definitely an upswing.”
In Trumbull County, most of the work is tied to institutional projects such as hospitals and schools, reports Eric Davis, training director with the Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee.
The program is a cooperative initiative with the Mahoning Valley chapter of the National Electrical Contractors Association, or NECA, and operates from a training center in Champion.
“There’s not as much activity as we would like,” Davis reports. “It has improved, but not to the point where we would like to see it.”
Among the commercial projects slated for this year is a new Residence Inn by Marriott hotel and banquet center at the Eastwood Mall, Davis reports. “There’s some commercial out there, but I think people are still waiting to see if the folks in Washington can come to some kind of agreement,” he says.
Instead, much of the work is coming from projects such as renovation upgrades at Trumbull Memorial Hospital in Warren, Davis notes, and there’s some activity with the construction of water-treatment plants in the region.
Also, there’s enough work in Mahoning County and Youngstown for some members of IBEW Local 573, Davis adds. “There’s quite a bit of work there,” he says. “Our members can work anywhere in the country, and fortunately our neighbors next door are busy.”
Applications for the apprentice programs are on par with recent years, he reports, and the training center is busy with safety programs primarily with some computer-based training and training on electrical vehicles. Other initiatives with “green” energy education such as solar and wind aren’t as popular as before.
“A lot of those who wanted to be trained in it have already gotten it,” Davis notes. “We’ve trained about 90 people in those fields – solar in particular.”
And, state funding once available to help subsidize these programs was cut. “It’s not what it was three or four years ago,” Davis remarks.
That doesn’t mean new opportunities won’t be available this year. “We’re looking into training that needs to be done for the oil and gas industry,” Davis says.
But just how that industry is going to play out in Trumbull County remains to be seen, Davis cautions. “We know there’s going to be compressors coming in and some processors, but we don’t know the scope in Trumbull County,” he says.
Oil and gas training is especially critical for contractors such as VEC Inc. in Girard, and its subsidiary, Evets Oil & Gas, says Chris Jaskiewicz, senior vice president and chief operating officer at VEC.
“Evets has been in the oil and gas business since 1968, and it’s a full turnkey service,” he reports. “Pipefitters, laborers, electricians – there’s tremendous growth here.”
VEC acquired Evets Oil & Gas 10 years ago, and the company has clients all across the country, Jaskiewicz reports. Over the last year and a half, most of its work has been concentrated in Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia because of oil and gas exploration in the Utica and Marcellus shale plays.
The company reports it recently contracted with BP to perform mechanical and electrical work at the well sites after the drilling process is completed. “We come in after they drill,” Jaskiewicz notes. “We put the piping in place, the storage tanks, and the automation and controls at the well site.”
BP, engaged in its assessment phase of the Utica shale in Trumbull County, plans to drill 10 “appraisal” wells this year.
Since VEC acquired Evets, the company has grown from a $4 million a year operation to $26 million in sales last year, Jaskiewicz reports. “We have about 400 people out in the field, and about 300 are electricians,” he says. “We hire right out of the union hall based on immediate need.”
Aside from the oil and gas business, VEC is also busy with V&M’s new mill in Youngstown. That project alone required 200 tradesmen over the last three years, he reports.
Assorted manufacturers appear to be gaining traction and are starting to make necessary upgrades and improvements to their plants, Jaskiewicz observes. “We did Universal Special Metals in North Jackson and some work for Delphi at their facilities,” he says. Other manufacturers such as Glunt Industries in Warren are also moving forward with improvements that require heavy electrical work.
“I see a lot of growth out there. These companies seem to be making moves to get back into the mix,” Jaskiewicz says.
Business is so good that VEC plans to construct a single building to accommodate all divisions of the company. “We have plans for a major expansion well beyond the shale, and we want to build one massive facility to house 500 people,” he reports.
EDITOR'S NOTE: This story first appeared in the Feb. 12, 2013 edition of The Business Journal.
Copyright 2013 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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