YPSILANTI - The unique educational bond between Washtenaw County and the International Union of Plumbers, Pipe Fitters and Sprinkler Fitters was strengthened with the Aug. 17 groundbreaking of the Great Lakes Regional Training Center.

The new 44,000 square foot training center, on the campus of Washtenaw Community College, will be one of five scattered across the country and is expected to be completed next year. Training opportunities will encompass air conditioning/refrigeration, plumbing and air conditioning service, valve repair, medical gas and specialty welding courses, to computer aided drafting and distance learning.

"This training center is proof that the UA is committed to offering the finest training in the industry," said International Union General President Martin Maddaloni. "We're grateful to Washtenaw Community College, not only for our great relationship, but for building this center on your campus and for strengthening your partnership with skilled union labor."

At the forefront of the training center's mission will be specialty skill training, such as the kind used to build highly sensitive environments like a hospital operating room or scientific research lab.

Washtenaw Community College President Larry Whitworth said the school "is extremely proud of our partnership that has developed with the United Association, which has culminated with this center."

The training center will augment, but not replace, the annual week-long UA Instructor Training Program, which was held the week of Aug. 13-17.

This is the 12th consecutive year the UA has held its Instructor Training Program at WCC. This year, a new record was set: 1,801 UA instructors from across the nation attended, bringing back information and new pipe trades training techniques to their home locals.

The UA Instructor Training Program is a five-year program that involves two hundred hours of instruction. Each participant receives one week (40 hours) of intensive instruction each year for five years. Each year they gain proficiency in the techniques of teaching a class and in the use of instructional materials. They also broaden and deepen their understanding of the technical aspects and new innovations in their profession.

"It's great, we're glad to have the UA aboard," said host Local 190 Business Manager Ron House. "Now, we're going to have the UA year-round, and this shows how our relationship with Washtenaw Community College has strengthened over the years."

The UA chose the WCC in good part because the school provided the land, and the instructors will be able to use the building every August during the training program. "Another part of it is the boom of technology in the state of Michigan," said George H. Bliss III, the Director of Training at the UA's national office in Washington, D.C. "We want to offer something to our people who are helping to build Michigan."

Besides, Bliss said, "the community in the Ypsilanti/Ann Arbor area has been wonderful to us."

GROUNDBREAKING for the UA's training center was attended by (l-r) Washtenaw Community College Board of Trustees Chair David Rutledge, Congresswoman Lynn Rivers, College President Larry Whitworth, UA Director of Training George Bliss, IU President Martin Maddaloni, and the college's teachers' union president, Dennis Bila.