BEDFORD- Stonegate Arts and Education’s Skilled Trade Showcase is a dynamic event highlighting career opportunities in trades like welding, carpentry, and electrical work. It connects students and job seekers with industry professionals through hands-on workshops, demonstrations, and networking. The showcase promotes the value of skilled trades, inspiring attendees to pursue rewarding careers that build and sustain communities.
2024 was the second year for the Skilled Trade Showcase. Originally held at Stongate Arts and Education Center, the event outgrew that space, and this year, it was held at the Lawrence County Fairgrounds on November 21. The Showcase attracted an impressive group of exhibitors:
- Indiana Laborers’ Training Trust Fund
- Heat and Frost Local 137
- Ryan Fire Protection-Local 669
- Sheet Metal Workers Local 20
- UA Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 136
- Ironworkers Local 170
- Operating Engineers Local 181
- Midwest Carpenters
- The International Union of Painters and Allied Trades
- Electrical Training Center Local 16
- Plasterers and Cement Masons Local 692
- Taylor Brothers
- HFI
- GM/UAW
- Heidelberg Materials/United Steel Workers
- Duke Energy
- McIntyre Brothers
- StoneGate Arts and Education
- Lawrence County Economic Growth Council
- WorkOne
- City of Bedford Utilities
- Built to Succeed
- Ivy Tech Bloomington
440 Students attended from schools all around Lawrence County to educate themselves on opportunities for employment after high school. “These kids get to see what different options there are out there in the trades and what they do,” said Ryan Griffith, Operations Manager for McIntyre Brothers Construction, “It may open there eyes to something they never new about.”
Orion Hill, a student from Orleans, is taking construction trades at the North Lawrence Career Center. “I am thinking of being a carpenter. I love seeing things built and knowing I had a hand in it.”
Liz Irwin, Government Community Relations Manager for Duke Energy. “We think it’s very important to get in front of young students and tell them about Duke Energy and the different types of careers that are available. We are building the next generation of electrical workers, so it’s very important we use these opportunities.”
