Charlie Falkner, business manager of Ironworkers Local 8, at far left, and other dignitaries dig in their shovels during Thursday’s groundbreaking ceremony at the new Apprenticeship Training Center in Chocolay Township. The center is being constructed along M-28. (Journal photo by Christie Mastric)

HARVEY — Ground was broken on Thursday at the new Apprenticeship Training Center for Ironworkers Local 8, located along M-28 in Chocolay Township.

“It’s going to be awesome to have our own home here,” said Charlie Falkner, business manager for the Milwaukee-based Ironworkers Local 8, with the new center — which will focus on certification and training — years in the making.

Falkner said other trades might want to use the facility for training as well.

“It’s going to be great for the trades in general,” Falkner said.

He expects the facility to be completed in early spring.

Falkner explained the need building a new facility instead of renovating current structures.

“You would have to had to put half a million in to demo things, and then start from scratch again,” said Falkner, who noted that the apprenticeship trust fund will own the new center, which will be financed as a mortgage. Grants also are a possibility.

Tim Roman, Upper Peninsula business representative for Local 8, said people who have been in the industry for years now have a brick-and-mortar place for training.

“We’ve been remote for training, materials getting brought up, usually in a vehicle from Milwaukee, renting space at Bay College or Northern (Michigan University), or trades have been letting us use their facilities,” Roman said. “Logistics are about to get real clean for us.”

The new facility is about 16,000 square feet, he said, with an estimated cost of $5 million.

Roman said foundation work should begin in September.

He acknowledged that iron work in the Upper Peninsula isn’t always readily noticed.

“A lot of people don’t see the work we do in the U.P.,” Roman said. “We help with the industrial maintenance, help with paper, the mining industry, bridges.”

The industry also helps with the current housing shortage, he said.

Local 8, Roman said, oversees 30 to 50 apprentices in the U.P.

One of those apprentices is Reghan Lakomowski of Gwinn, a fourth-year apprentice who attended Thursday’s groundbreaking ceremony.

“I’m really excited to not have to drive all the way to Wisconsin,” Lakomowski said.

She also pointed out that an American Welding Society laboratory will be in the new facility, which will help individuals obtain their certification.

Lakomowski had a quick answer when asked why she enjoys being in the industry: “being able to work with my hands every day and see results, and knowing that it’s going to be there for a long time.”