Local Union 773 unveils new training center in Queensbury
Saturday, September 14, 2013
QUEENSBURY, N.Y. -- Hundreds came out Saturday for a peak inside Local Union 773's brand new, state-of-the-art training center.
This has been a long time coming. A lot of work by a lot of people, and we're just proud to show it off to the community, said Scott Martle, Business Manager for Local Union 773. The $5.5 million facility is the first tenant in the Tech Meadows Industrial Park of West Glens Falls. It features offices, trade shops, and classrooms equipped with smart technology for the 70 apprentices and 450+ members the union represents in the piping industry.
For years, 773's training center was out of South Glens Falls. However, with significant industry growth, officials decided to invest in a new, more sustainable location, and allowed some of their students and workforce to learn by participating in the build.
The local did invest in a state-of-the art heating and cooling system, and again it was an opportunity for them to use it as a training mechanism for their workforce, said Mike Phinney, the designer and architect for Local Union 773's new training center.
It obviously gives us a lot more room to do a lot more things that we were lacking at our last space. The clean room alone was a $400,000 investment for local 773, said Martel. The 600 square foot clean room in the new training center was designed for chip research and manufacturing.
Martel said many of Local Union 773's members are already employed by chip manufacturer GlobalFoundries. As the company plans to expand in the Capital Region, Martel said this training center will ensure that 773's members, and future members, are prepared for nanotech jobs moving forward.
With the plans to build another FAB and maybe another one after that, and to support businesses to support the FABs, we have to be on the forefront and make sure our people are trained. We need to keep up with technology so that we can supply the necessary people to complete the work at hand, said Martel.
