Skilled trades fair open for Detroit residents

Santiago Esparza / The Detroit News

Detroit -- The school district today is hosting the Skilled Trades Resource Fair for Detroiters who are looking for careers.

City residents with a skilled-trade background or looking to learn skills to obtain work in that industry can register for jobs or learn about training during the free fair.

Officials at the fair are looking for experienced carpenters, cement masons, drywall finishers, electricians, iron workers, millwrights, painters, pipefitters, plumbers, roofers and sheet metal workers. But those without that background can still register, officials said.

The fair runs from 9 a.m. to noon at IBEW Local 58, 1358 Abbott in Detroit.

Detroit Public Schools has $500.5 million in bonds that will fund three years of various construction projects. DPS Emergency Financial Manager Robert Bobb said Detroiters have dibs on the jobs that will be created by the projects.

"During the (bond) campaign, we told voters that the DPS construction project would not only mean state-of-the-art learning facilities for our students but the project also would create thousands of jobs for area workers, which would aid the local economy," Bobb said in a press release. "This fair for skilled workers is tangible evidence that we are living up to our promises, and we hope workers will come out to see the many job opportunities and apprenticeship programs that we have available."

The first batch of contracts was awarded last month and requires that 65 percent of work hours be performed by Detroit residents. In addition, contractors plan to have 40-60 percent of the non-trades work hours performed by Detroiters, DPS officials said.

With nearly 1,000 laid off Detroiters on the roster, the Michigan Building and Construction Trades Council is happy some of their members will have the opportunity to go back to work.

"They have been on the bench for a while and have been hurting," Patrick Devlin, the council's treasurer and financial secretary, said in the release. "They are ready and eager to get back to work."

Work begins later this month at Martin Luther King Jr. King Senior High School, John R. King Academic and Performing Arts Academy and at the Marcus Garvey Academy. Bobb said that up to 1,375 Detroiters will be employed for work on the first three projects.

Devlin said it is important to get registered because more work will open up as the bond program progress.

"This is the first step to getting new workers assessed and trained so they can be prepared for the next series of construction projects in the city," he said.

The Michigan Building and Construction Trades Council and Walbridge Joint Venture are hosting the fair with DPS. Walbridge is the project manager for the work funded by the bonds.

sesparza@detnews.com (313) 222-2320