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ETA News Release: [07/27/2006]
Contact Name: Melinda Thielen
Phone Number: (202) 693-4676
Release Number: 06-1273-ATL

U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao Addresses Carpenters Dedication Ceremony for New Training Center

State-of-the-Art Facility to Upgrade Trade Skills and Safety

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao praised the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners during a dedication ceremony for the new Indiana-Kentucky Carpenter's Regional Council training center. The new 112,000 square foot facility — seven times larger than the building it replaced — will offer training courses in the evenings and weekends for carpenters and millwrights across Kentucky and southern Indiana who want to continually upgrade their skills.

"This new training facility is critical not only to this region but to America, because our country is facing a shortage of workers in the skilled trades," said Secretary Chao. "New tools, new materials and new techniques are changing the way we all do our jobs, so workers must continually upgrade their skills to build solid career paths, no matter their profession."

The Secretary also commended the Carpenters and Joiners union's effort to improve workplace safety.

"We also share a commitment to ensuring that our nation's workers are the safest and healthiest in the world, and this center will be teaching everyone from the newest apprentice to veteran journeymen, the best safety practices."

The United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners puts $100 million each year into training. It teaches over 300 different courses in 250 centers across the United States and Canada. These facilities train over 50,000 apprentices and 19,000 journeymen a year without charge. The U.S. Department of Labor has awarded a grant of nearly a million dollars to help train members of the Carpenters and Joiners Union in critical safety skills.

To learn more about how the Department of Labor is contributing to the more efficient functioning of the U.S. labor market by providing high quality job training, employment, labor market information, and income maintenance services, visit www.doleta.gov.