U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Lansing, talks with Tom Lutz, executive secretary-treasurer of the Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters and Millwrights at the Union Carpenters and Millwrights Skilled Training Center in Negaunee Township on Wednesday. Stabenow was in the Upper Peninsula this week to tour the facility, which has its grand opening slated for Aug. 30, before traveling to Houghton to tour Michigan Tech University later in the afternoon. (Journal photo by Ryan Spitza)

NEGAUNEE TOWNSHIP — U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Lansing, is visiting the Upper Peninsula this week.

Wednesday’s itinerary included a stop in Marquette County. Before heading north to Houghton to tour Michigan Tech University, the senator first dropped by the Union Carpenters and Millwrights Skilled Training Center in Negaunee Township for a tour of the facility ahead of its grand opening on Aug. 30.

The 35,000-square-foot facility opened its doors in December 2019 along U.S. 41, providing expanded space for skilled trades students to gain real-world experience in the industry. The facility replaced its former, smaller location along Division Street in Marquette.

The project cost an estimated $6 million to $7 million, and it was funded by the Michigan Statewide Carpenters and Millwrights Joint Apprenticeship and Training Fund.

Stabenow said that the facility, one of seven across Michigan, is critical to the future of the state’s infrastructure.

“I’m really excited about this facility and frankly the commitment of the carpenters and millwrights and all the skilled trades to basically put their own money in, working with their business partners, to create skilled training centers where folks come out with great paying jobs and really a career,” she said. “And as we look more at the construction coming from our efforts to invest in rebuiliding roads and bridges and water and sewer systems and internet access and all of the other infrastructure jobs that we have, we’re going to need more and more people that know how to actually make things, actually build the things that we’re talking about. And right here, it doesn’t get any better. We’re talking about the most professional, highest-skilled folks anywhere in the world right here.”

Stabenow presented the Soo Locks as an example. The senator previously penned legislation authorizing $922 million for modernization of the locks, the Soo Locks Modernization Act, which was passed by the U.S. Senate in 2018 and was signed by then-President Donald Trump later that year. The problem with advancing the project, according to Stabenow, had been that there weren’t enough skilled workers to complete it.

“This is very important,” she said. “This investment by skilled trades union workers as well as their business partners is about investing in Michigan’s future so that we have the skilled workers that are going to be able to do all of the efforts that we’re involved in right now. I was over in Sault Ste. Marie and the Soo Locks are moving forward. I’ve been able to get the largest investment to date in moving this forward to completion. One of the challenges is having enough of the skilled workforce that we need to actually build it and to actually get it done.

“That’s just one of the many reasons. We’re seeing construction projects all over the U.P., which is great, but we’ve got to have the skilled workers that are getting good-paying jobs and are able to know that they’ve got a career.”

More recently, the Senate passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act on Aug. 10, a bipartisan bill that, if passed by the House of Representatives, will invest in the nation’s infrastructure and create good-paying jobs. According to Stabenow’s office, the $1.2 trillion bill will make the single-largest investment in the Great Lakes, fix roads and bridges, expand high-speed internet, invest in electric vehicles and create jobs.

“The new federal bill that we just passed on a bipartisan basis is great for the Upper Peninsula,” Stabenow said. “First of all, I was successful in getting a historic investment that’s going to complete the Soo Locks that have been long talked about and not ever brought to completion, so we’re going to get that done. It has a major investment in high-speed internet, so we’re going to be able to connect everybody across the U.P. which is so very important, and we saw during COVID how it was even more important as it related to children and school, or telehealth, or small businesses. And then we’re going to see a major investment in the Great Lakes, there’s something I authored about 10 years ago called the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, and this is the largest single investment in protecting our waters.

“So it’s roads, bridges, waters, sewer systems. It’s about a 31% increase for roads and bridges, but it’s also Great Lakes, internet and big infrastructure projects like the Soo Locks.”

After speaking with the press, Stabenow was taken on a tour of the facility led by Tom Lutz, executive secretary-treasurer of the Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters and Millwrights. The facility features a vast amount of classrooms and training areas for different skilled trades, allowing union members to practice skills that are used to build everything from single-family homes to medical centers, bridges and schools. The facility also contains areas for woodshop training and welding booths to help members hone specialized skills.

According to www.mitalent.org, carpentry and millwright professions in Michigan are each on a projected growth path. Carpentry profession growth currently stands at 3% with more than 3,000 openings annually. Millwright profession growth currently stands at 12% with 270 openings annually.

Stabenow finished by encouraging those who are currently at a crossroads on their career path to consider a skilled trades program.

“I hope that folks that are looking for their first career or are looking for another career will really take a look at what happens here at this incredible Union Carpenters and Millwrights (Skilled) Training Center,” she said. “This is a program where you can walk in, become an apprentice, walk out with a professional license and no debt, all thanks to the men and women who are investing out of their own pocket. The carpenters and millwrights here are paying for this, along with their business partners.”