By Sam Knef

HEBRON, Ky. — An apprenticeship program in northern Kentucky is trying to address the shortage of construction workers. One apprentice said it’s been a life-changing experience, and he can’t wait to help shape the skyline of the region.

Anthony Cooper is proof that it’s never too late to get started on something new. That’s, of course, a lot easier with a little help.

Slicing through solid iron is a lot different from the path he was on, and Cooper said he couldn’t be happier about it.

“They pushed college on us really hard. So after the military I did some college. Outside of the debt and just the muddled job world, I was really looking for something. I needed a change,” he said. “I couldn’t keep doing what I was doing. That path had to stop. So I came here, tested in, and they were good enough to me to really bring me in. They’re training me. They’re bringing me up.”

Cooper is about to wrap up his first year as an apprentice with Iron Workers Local 44 in Hebron. It’s an earn-as-you-learn four-year program in which students get hands-on experience. The four major facets of the trade are ornamental and glasswork, structural steel erection, reinforcing iron work, and machinery moving and rigging.

“It’s like you’re part of something here. You know, it’s bigger than you. We get to build some of the biggest buildings in the area,” said Jarrod Tiemeier, business agent organizer for Local 44. “Everybody around here drives over our roads, drives across our bridges, work in our buildings. You know, we’re needed, and that’s a great feeling.”

At 44 years old, maybe it was destined for Cooper to end up with Local 44 as well. He is, however, one of the older apprentices. But he said his age has been an asset.

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