Electrical work a growing field in Coshocton and beyond

• IBEW 1107 of Nashport covers Coshocton County. The field is growing due to home and business construction.
• The union offers an apprenticeship that includes classwork and being in the field with experienced electricians.
• The union has also consulted with Coshocton County Career Center on a new electrical program starting in fall 2023.
• There is so much work available, electricians are coming into the area from all over for jobs.

COSHOCTON — The local boom in home construction, remodeling and new industry, such as the incoming Intel plant, means a need for skilled trades like electricians. 

International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1105 in Nashport, which covers Coshocton County, is expanding its apprenticeship program and is working with the Coshocton County Career Center on developing a new electricians program to start in fall 2023. The union currently has 460 members. 

Jimmy Miller, membership development coordinator for the local union, has been an electrician for 26 years and tries to recruit new union members. For Coshocton County, Hilscher-Clarke Electric Company is a partner contractor and union members work in a variety of major local businesses such as Cleveland-Cliffs, Kraft-Heinz and McWane Ductile. 

"I tell people all the time, in this day and age everything we use requires electricity. Even with the green push going with solar and windmills, things like that, there is still electrical work that goes into putting in these solar fields or building these windmills," Miller said. "You're always going to need electricians to install or maintain these things once they're in." 

Apprenticeship program

The main way the union is creating workers of the future is through its apprenticeship program. One becomes a journeyman electrician upon its completion. Miller said it covers every aspect of electrical work, not just construction. This includes the theory behind electricity and how it works, the different types of systems that use electrical power, code and safety. 

"It's not the only way to become a journeyman, but in my opinion, it's one of the best ways," Miller said. "It's the combination of the schoolwork, the books, the guidance you get from your instructors in class and the hands-on experience you get working in the field with experienced electricians. They're showing (students) proper installation and techniques in a real-world situation you're not going to learn from a textbook." 

Zac Mills of Coshocton is employed with the Superior Group, an electrical contractor in Columbus, and is currently doing electrical work for the Amazon data center in New Albany. He started his apprenticeship with the Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee, through IBEW 1105, in July 2018 and will finish his apprenticeship next year. 

Mills said the apprenticeship includes learning about the history of the union and what it means to be a member and basic skills of the trade. There's in-class work and being out in the field with an experienced electrician. One can work in the field while still learning.

Mills likes that it's something new everyday and you're constantly learning something different along with thinking on your feet and troubleshooting problems as they arise. 

He said he had a friend whose father was a member of the electricians union and they decided to try and join. Mills said he would tell someone to not let lack of experience or the years of schooling deter them. 

"It goes by fast and your instructors and classmates, you become really close with them," he said. "It's different than high school, you're learning about a field that you're in, it's not just sitting down writing essays. You're learning about electrical stuff, you're making friends and everybody wants you to succeed." 

A growing field

Outside of the apprentice program, Miller has high hopes for the new career center program as a worker pipeline. He said the union consulted with the vocational school on how the course for high school juniors and seniors can best make students ready for real world work situations in the electrical field. 

"There's plenty of job opportunities in Coshocton County and beyond. It's explaining that to these teens and the trades can be a very valuable tool to learn and that it's a career. A lot of people get shoved in other routes, but we need people in trades and you can make a career out of it," Miller said. 

He said electricians are extremely busy right now with so many job opportunities that people are coming outside the area to fill them. And that's without work on the new Intel chip plant in Licking County starting yet. Miller knows it will be a big boost for all trades and not just with construction of the new facility. 

"We don't have enough electricians in this part of the state to meet the demands needed for Intel, just Intel. That's going to be a huge project and we're working hard now to get ready for it," Miller said. "The infrastructure they're going to bring with them, the other industry that will get generated with that project, it's going to boost jobs like I've never seen in my lifetime for this part of Ohio." 

For more information on the union, go to www.ibewlocal1105.org or call 740-454-2304. IBEW 1105 has a variety of training programs, including for veterans and minorities. 

Leonard Hayhurst is a community content coordinator and general news reporter for the Coshocton Tribune with close to 15 years of local journalism experience and multiple awards from the Ohio Associated Press. He can be reached at 740-295-3417 or llhayhur@coshoctontribune.com. Follow him on Twitter at @llhayhurst.