Ann Arbor, Mich. – IMPACT, the labor-management arm of the Iron Workers, hosted a series of successful safety and business development courses for contractors and ironworkers at Washtenaw Community College July 11-17, 2015.

For the last 31 years, the Iron Workers have offered training courses for ironworker trainers through the Iron Workers National Training Fund. For the last five years, IMPACT has joined the National Training Fund and offered courses for contractors in addition to the ironworker trainer courses. Working with feedback given by ironworkers and their contractors, IMPACT expanded the contractor course offerings to include offerings designed to best prepare contractors and their representatives to be leaders on the jobsite and grow their businesses. These courses focused on teaching cutting-edge technologies and best practices in the field, business fundamentals, project leadership and many more topics geared toward helping their businesses succeed.

“I was fortunate to attend the “Technology Tools for Cost Estimating” class that was held in conjunction with the Ironworkers Instructors Training,” says David Rutledge, the Ironwork Division Manager for Monarch Welding & Engineering, Inc. “I have taken approximately 15-20 different classes during my estimating career and have never walked out of any classroom as well informed on the usage and capabilities of a product before. My hats off to OnCenter for providing such a knowledgeable representative and the IMPACT team for realizing this.”

 “The Iron Workers and IMPACT take pride in offering the safest and most competent workforce in the world,” said Iron Workers General President and IMPACT Labor Co-Chair Eric Dean. “By upgrading the skills of our instructors, apprenticeship coordinators, business managers and contractors, we know we deliver on that promise.”

IMPACT partnered with FMI Consulting to offer many of the courses. FMI presented a course that helped contractors learn how to maximize job profits as well as a course geared toward teaching contractors the fundamentals of project management and project leadership. IMPACT also offered ironworkers a “Train-the-Trainer” version of the highly-successful Safety Trained Supervisor Construction course.

IMPACT also tapped into its network of industry leaders and developed its own courses: Construction Contracting Business Fundamentals Academy, Understanding Your Construction Contract, Technology Tools for Cost Estimating and Technology Applications for the Field.

“These courses are top-notch in terms of reinforcing project management and bidding skills among veteran and new contractors alike,” says Bill Brown, IMPACT Management Co-Chair and President of Ben Hur Construction Co. in St. Louis. “It is vital to maintain superiority in management and construction technique throughout the industry.”

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About IMPACT

IMPACT’s mission is to provide a forum for ironworkers and signatory contractors to discuss effective strategies to expand job opportunities through innovative labor-management cooperative programs. IMPACT provides expertise in training, construction certifications, marketing, construction project tracking and bidding, insurance and Davis-Bacon compliance efforts. www.impact-net.org