Syracuse and Central New York are bucking the U.S. trend of construction uncertainty as billions of dollars pour into the region for highways, hospitals, schools, housing and the industrial mega-bucks semiconductor fabrication project by Micron Technology in the northern Syracuse suburb of Clay.
To meet the unprecedented demand for construction services, the local carpenters union is undergoing a two-fold expansion.
“We’re guessing we’re going to have to just about double our membership from 1,600 to about 3,000 members,” says Jim Mason, business manager for the North Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters (NASRCC), Local 277, Syracuse.
Last year the Carpenters’ local, which includes 21 counties from the Canadian to the Pennsylvania borders, expanded its training centre, adding 12,000 square feet of training space to its 4,000 square foot centre in Syracuse. Over the next two years, the facility will provide training for upwards of 600 apprentices annually, up from the current 280 or so.
The facility is rare on the East Coast for having an overhead crane designed to train workers for rigging certification standards.
Mason says overhead crane operation is among the skills expected to be in demand on projects such as Micron’s microchip facilities in Clay. Micron has indicated it will spend up to $100 billion over 20 years on the semiconductor complex through a multi-phase development that is slated to start this fall.
Funding has been secured for the first two semiconductor facilities and a bill is on the books to expand the federal CHIPS and Science Act to allow the next two fabrication plants, he says.
To project will employ many tradespeople as well as full-time staff at the plants once in operation. Clay is working on a billion-dollar waterworks plant expansion to accommodate the demand.
“They started laying the pipework so I anticipate we will be over there this year.”
Many of Local 277’s members are working on the $2.5 billion upgrade to Interstate 81 as well as hospital expansions, schools and other commercial/industrial projects on the rise in Syracuse and its surroundings.
While the tariffs are causing some supply chain uncertainty as a lot of the region’s building materials are from Canada, Mason is confident that it won’t halt major work.
“I’m sure it is going to increase the cost of things (materials) but I think everything is going to move forward,” he says. “I think we’re going to be extremely lucky in our area compared to the rest of the country.”
To meet the growing demand for skilled workers, Local 277 is ramping up recruitment efforts with signatory contractors and partners in the region. An initiative spearheaded by the city of Syracuse called Syracuse Build links unions, local governments, training institutes and construction contractors to provide pre-apprenticeship programs.
In another recruitment drive the Local 277 training centre hosted its first annual Combine on May 17, a skills assessment competition in which non-journeyed carpenters compete in a “construction obstacle course” to frame, hang drywall, build concrete formwork, scaffolding and perform other skills for an audience of about a dozen large signatory contractors.
The event included a written exam.
“Our target is to try to recruit more journey-level carpenters who are not in the union but I think it is going to help grow our apprenticeship program as well.”
The union market share of construction in Central New York is more than 70 per cent.
Mason credits high school teachers in the region for instilling interest in students in careers in the trades.
“Within the last two years I bet the interest from students coming out of high school has quadrupled.”
As the economy softens in the northeast, he expects carpenters from other locals within the NASRCC, which covers seven states in the northeast, to reach out to the Syracuse local.
“One of the things that keeps me up at night is the worker requests from the contractors looking for people on projects right now,” he states. “We have unfilled jobs we’re trying to get people for. Probably since COVID we’ve been really busy.”
Those interested in seeking membership can do so by clicking here or by texting “work” to 315-277-6580.
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