The price is right for Dane Dyson.
When the 22-year-old Yough Senior High graduate realized it would cost him $22,000 to attend a career school to learn the tricks of the plumbing and heating, ventilation and air conditioning trades, he opted instead to join a local union apprentice program.
Dyson of Sutersville is completing the first of five years as an apprentice with Plumbers and Pipefitters Local Union 354. He was on hand Friday for an open house at the union’s year-old HVAC/plumbing service training center in Unity.
While working full time for Limbach, a Warrendale-based company that specializes in plumbing and HVAC construction and service, Dyson comes to the union center at Latrobe Industrial Park once every two weeks for a day of training in his field.
“They’re offering essentially free training,” Dyson said. “This is a really good opportunity to have a career that’s ever-expanding. The need for air conditioning, the need for plumbing, the need for pipe-fitting is never going to go away.”
“It’s learn-as-you-earn,” said Chad Morrison, training coordinator for Local 354. Dyson is one of 80 members in its apprentice program.
Dyson is part of the inaugural class at the HVAC service training center, with a second class of six new apprentices ready to begin work there. The Unity center supplements the union’s training center near Youngwood that focuses on construction skills.
“It’s a great alternative to college and a very lucrative career,” Morrison said. “It’s in very high demand.”
Union employment in the field comes with a wage that starts at about $20 per hour and can eventually double that, not counting benefits, said Tim Custer, business manager for Local 354.
“We’re looking at bringing kids in here and getting them the training that they need to supply the contractors with the skills they’re looking for,” said Custer.
Dyson said the apprentice program is helping to fill in gaps in his skills after he worked in nonunion construction.
“When I was doing construction, I didn’t really learn a lot of electrical or refrigeration,” he said. “When I’m working on an air conditioning unit, there are electrical systems inside that unit.”
Apprentices at the training center start out learning basics in safety procedures, physics, mechanics, electricity and refrigeration, said Edward Andolina, HVAC training coordinator. When they progress to advanced training, they’ll learn how to tear down and rebuild compressors and how to troubleshoot and maintain chiller units.
When they graduate to the status of journeymen, they can come back for continuing education courses. Andolina said 16 journeymen are enrolled, learning about changing technology and regulations in the field — either in person at the Unity site or online.
Andolina noted the industry is in flux, as HVAC units with “green” refrigerants are being phased in.
“A lot of these newer refrigerants are environmentally friendly, but they’re also flammable,” he said. “Refrigerants prior to that were not, so it poses a whole new safety issue. There will be safety devices on the units that didn’t exist before.”
The Unity center, containing 12,000 square feet on two floors, is a work in progress, Custer said. He said more training stations will be added in the coming year.
“It’s something that’s probably always going to evolve,” he said. “We’ll always be getting new equipment in to train on.”
Limbach has a half dozen Local 354 apprentices on its payroll, said Rob Monteparte, who is a trade manager for the company and also represents it on a committee at the union training center.
The center is one resource employers such as Limbach are hoping will help to close the region’s gap in skilled labor.
“There’s a shortage of skilled workers,” Monteparte said. “They’re really hard to find.
“A full-fledged (HVAC) service technician is in demand at all times. It’s consistent work, when it’s cold out and when it’s hot. “
With about 550 members, Local 354 covers 14 counties in Western Pennsylvania: Bedford, Blair, Cambria, Cameron, Clearfield, Elk, Fayette, Huntingdon, Indiana, Jefferson, Somerset, Westmoreland and parts of Washington and Greene.
Jeff Himler is a TribLive reporter covering Greater Latrobe, Ligonier Valley, Mt. Pleasant Area and Derry Area school districts and their communities. He also reports on transportation issues. A journalist for more than three decades, he enjoys delving into local history. He can be reached at jhimler@triblive.com.