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1300 E. 85th Ave.
Merrillville, IN 46410
(219) 738-9029

Logging some serious miles

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It’s been a busy travel period for our staff in recent weeks.

Last month, I had the opportunity to visit two USW/Bridgestone sites in Tennessee. Both were outstanding in their own rights. Warren County had a great auto shop that was in full educational mode at 1:00 p.m. on a Monday -- very impressive indeed. They also had a nice wood shop that Gordon Roberts took personal pride in. Gordon is on the LJC and was showing some fine projects that were done in their wood shop. Ron Vining, the site coordinator, seemed to be everywhere at the site, whether cleaning up spills or assisting on vehicles, or showing us how the new freon extractor works. All in all, it was a great visit and Warren County has a lot to be proud of. Nice site and nice people, that’s a good combination.

The second USW/Bridgestone site is the LaVergne site. Marion White is the coordinator there, and anyone who knows Marion, knows there is only one way to do things -- the right way! As I arrived on Tuesday about noon, there was a full Real Estate class just finishing up -- an excellent showing for a Tuesday morning class.  They are able to hold small engine repair classes and many other classes at the site. They have done a great job of using carpentry classes, residential wiring classes and other construction classes to help increase the site’s appeal and usefulness.  Another great visit!  All our sites have their own favorite classes that work for them and both of these sites were great examples of that. Keep up the good work.

Prior to that, Korey attended an Open House at USW/Continental Conti-Tech-Sun Prairie (formerly Veyance), hosted by the LJC to promote upcoming classes. Korey was also able to attend an LJC meeting and met two new LJC members, Laurie Niehoff and Linda Vick. Be sure to welcome Laurie and Linda if you happen to see them at an upcoming event.

Finally, Sean travelled to Alabama last week for a regional meeting hosted by the USW/U.S. Steel-Fairfield meeting. We probably all have heard about possible layoffs coming at that facility. The good news that program is doing an outstanding job of preparing members in case that happens. The coordinator, Jeff Williamson, reports that within the past few months, nearly 50 participants have received their Class A CDL license. What’s just as impressive is that Jeff has negotiated a rate of $650 per student for the training.

Besides the CDL training, Fairfield has also had some success in negotiating lower rates for a Real Estate class. The training from that class leads to the participant being able to sit for the state exam, and I hear participation is very good in that class as well.

Keep up the great work everybody!

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