For years now the construction industry has been in a down cycle. When I first came into this industry as a Vocational student at Anoka Technical College in 1998, the industry was strong. The Administration at every school were trying everything possible to bring more students into the trades. The good times seemed to not have an end. The up cycle was longer than any up cycle that any of the old timers could remember. Eventually something would change and it did.
Many people in the trades marked the finish of the “Best Buy” headquarters in Bloomington as the end of the up swing in the construction industry. When this change in momentum happened is also the time when I was finishing up trade school and applying to the Minneapolis, IBEW local 292. In my group of applicants I ranked number 36. I couldn’t understand how I could be ranked so low. Then I realized that there were 500 more behind me. In the group of apprentices hired that spring, I remember 40 something being hired. I was in but just by the skin of my teeth. The year was 2004 and our second child was born, just a month and a half after my indenture. The union health insurance paid for our new-born and we were on the road to prosperity. My thinking alway was, this low point can’t last very long. Most people who I talked with always sited that there are low points in the construction industry, there alway has been. Most don’t last much more than a year. Using this logic, I expected when I came out of my apprenticeship times would be better again. They got worse. We at this time have over a thousand electricians out of work in Minneapolis, over 30 percent unemployment. I am sure that St. Paul is down several hundreds as well. The Minnesota Twins have a new stadium. As “Target Field” was being built, there was some hiring for the stadium, but that was off set by the lay offs coming into the hall daily from other contractors. Tough times.
As I looked at this unfolding scenario within my apprenticeship. As an apprentice, I had some sort of grace to my job. As a lower paid electrical worker, apprentices were often kept, as extra journeyman on the jobs got sent back to the hall. Apprentices found work sooner than Journeyman and kept longer. I didn’t worry when the separation notice came as an apprentice. A new job was right around the corner. Like all others my days were numbered. When my sand had drained out from the hour-glass, I was determined to have a skill that few had. I took Journeyman night classes in addition to my day apprentice classes. Classes like “Leadership”, “Estimation” and “Solar Installer”. I submersed my self into the trade as much as possible to help myself become the most marketable electrician possible. I now have a portfolio full of Certificates that show my effort to learn as much as possible. I now have an Electrical License for the states of North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa. NABCEP certified in Photovoltaic Solar and ready to work now.
All of this effort and experiences and I am still sitting at home with time to write a blog. I have alway believed that people are usually their own enemy. The bad choices they make usually put themselves into a bad place. If you make good choices then you put your self into a good place. I look into my past and see good decisions, hard work and effort. It would be easy to make a conclusion that it doesn’t matter, I don’t have the ability to change my own circumstances. Despite of all the factors against me, I still have more control over where I’m going than the world does. It is time to double down again. Time to look deeper than deep. Know that God is still in control of the world. We as a nation will emerge from this stronger than ever before.
