SEQUIM — Well-paying jobs are out there for plumbers, steamfitters and pipefitters, and now Sequim has a school to prepare the next generation of tradesmen and -women.
That’s the message from Lee Whetham and Ed Holmes, plumbers and staffers at the new Apprentice Training Center at 321 W. Pine St., off South Third Avenue in Sequim.
This Saturday, the Sequim facility will hold an open house to show potential plumbers and pipefitters how they can learn the trade both on the job and in the classroom, Holmes said. The event from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. will feature free hamburgers and hot dogs.
Holmes and Whetham, an organizer with the United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 32, hope to enroll 13 to 20 new apprentices in the training program, which is part of the Renton-based Seattle Area Pipe Trades Education Center.
At the Sequim school, apprenticeships span five years for commercial plumbing, steamfitting and marine pipefitting students and three years for residential plumbers.
Growth potential
Holmes, who has trained apprentices for years in King County, said the education center wanted to expand to the Sequim area since it’s a market with growth potential.
“We’re giving kids a good opportunity to make a good living wage,” he added, and “once you get your journeyman’s card, you can go anywhere in the United States and Canada.
“With all of this infrastructure work coming, there will be jobs.”
Apprentices in Western Washington start out at about $14 an hour plus vacation time, pension, health and dental benefits.
After accumulating 2,000 hours of training, the hourly wage goes to $19, and at 4,000 hours to $21.69.
A journeyman with 6,000 hours of training behind him or her makes $25.52 an hour plus benefits.
Plumbers and pipefitters are among the highest-paid tradespeople in the state of Washington, Holmes said.
Whetham added that in Port Angeles, marine pipefitters work on the MV Coho when it goes into dry dock each winter.
A commercial plumber who’s worked all over the North Olympic Peninsula, Whetham added that his trade has afforded him another benefit: freedom.
“You have the ability to live in any community you choose,” he said, “and you do work in all sorts of different environments.”
At the Sequim training center, apprentices learn skills from welding and brazing to computer fundamentals and plumbing theory.
Tuition
Tuition is $230 per year and books cost about $300 per year, but students go into the field and start making money right away.
“You earn while you learn. You have a job and don’t owe a lot of money at the end,” Holmes said, adding that he’s seen women and men become prosperous plumbers.
The work is highly physical, Holmes emphasized, but he believes anyone who can handle that aspect and maintain three other qualities will do well.
“If you can show up, have a positive attitude and be drug-free, you can have success,” he said.
For more information about the Sequim Apprentice Training Center, phone Whetham at 360-683-7363.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Reporter Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at diane.urbani@peninsuladaily news.com.
