Our Investment in the Tradesmen of the Future

Nationwide there is a shortage of skilled technical workers in many of the trades including HVAC and Plumbing. And in response to that Blauch Brothers Inc. is making an investment in the education and training of young people that can become the next generation of skilled tradesmen.

Blauch Brothers Mechanical Contractors was approached in 2016 by an official at Winchester Public Schools about partnering with them to build a classroom for technical training. Knowing from our own business experience how much tradespeople are needed locally we immediately began conversations about how we could contribute to this new training area becoming a reality. After hearing what the needs where and how we could help the decision was made to consistently make financial and consultative contributions to the technical education program.

In our company shop we have machinery that allows us to bend and form metal into the needed shapes for ductwork and other HVAC related needs. This is the very type of machinery that new workers need to be familiar with to transition from being a student to working as a tradesperson. An “Ironworker” is one machine that’s used for punching, shearing, notching, bending and other metal fabrication functions.

As luck would have it during this same time “Scotchman” a leading equipment manufacturer that produces some of the equipment we use in our own shop was celebrating 50 years in business. As a promotion, they were planning to award one lucky school their signature piece of equipment an “Iron Worker”.  Blauch Brother’s “David Cupp” was able to submit a request and secure the award of that brand-new piece of equipment for Handley High School’s Technical Education Program. Jimmy Robertson, coordinator of technical education was excited about this award because it saves time to have an ironworker. It’s super fast compared to traditional methods such as a band saw or torch.

Students that successfully complete course work in this program will be prepared to begin new careers in the welding, plumbing and other skilled trades. Blauch Brothers and other local mechanical contractors will be eager to talk with graduates who can fill the demand for these good-paying jobs.