On July 3, the city of Albany passed Ordinance 32.62.17 that requires all construction contractors and subcontractors working on projects valued at greater than $100,000 to have established apprenticeship programs that have been approved by the New York State Department of Labor.

Under the new ordinance, contractors will be required to show proof of an approved apprenticeship program that graduates at least 30 percent of apprentices. The new ordinance will be effective as of September 2017.

“As Mayor, I am committed to ensuring that building and construction projects done in the city of Albany meet the highest possible standards — and apprenticeship programs are a vital part of that effort,” said Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan.

“Not only will this new ordinance help to protect infrastructure investments made in our city, but it will make certain that we are adequately training young people for future careers in the construction trades.”

“This is great news for the city of Albany and for young apprentices looking to get the hands-on training and in-class curriculum that they need to operate safely and confidently on the job site,” said Bill Banfield, Northeast Regional Council of Carpenters' (NRCC) Southeast New York regional manager.

“The Northeast Carpenters strongly believes in providing both on-the-job and in-class training for our carpenters, so they can earn while they learn and have the chance to build a career with a good standard of living, great healthcare and retirement benefits.”

NRCC's Apprenticeship program in New York, is a 5-year accredited training curriculum that requires individuals to annually complete hundreds of hours in the classroom and more than 1,000 hours of on-the-job training with skilled union carpenters. In the last two years, the NRCC has graduated an average of 50 percent of apprentices who started the program in 2011-2012.

Apprenticeship specializations include: general carpentry; cabinet making; flooring; pile driving/dock building; millwrights; and trade show. NRCC training centers are located in New York (Elma, Hauppage, Horseheads, Rock Tavern, Rochester and Albany), New Jersey (Kenilworth and Hammonton), Delaware (New Castle and Georgetown), Maryland (Baltimore, Upper Marlboro) and Pennsylvania (Allentown and Philadelphia).

For more information, visit northeastcarpenters.org.

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