Baltimore-Area Women Graduate from Northeast Regional Council of Carpenters’ Sisters in the Brotherhood Pre-Apprenticeship Program

BALTIMORE, Md., Aug. 29, 2017 -- On August 18^th, the Northeast Regional Council of Carpenters (NRCC) and the Mid-Atlantic Carpenters’ Training Center (MACTC) held its pre-apprenticeship graduation for three Baltimore-area women in the Sisters in the Brotherhood (SIB) Pre-Apprentice program. The graduation was held at the MACTC (1407 Rome Road, Baltimore, MD).

The graduation brought together NRCC and MACTC leadership and local elected officials, including Councilwoman Shannon Sneed of the Baltimore City Council (District 13) and Maryland State Delegate Cory McCray (District 45).

The following Baltimore women graduated from the program:

• Wendy Douglass
• Ladira Johnson
• Lottie Rainey

“We were so pleased to honor these women at the graduation and hope that their successes will convince other Baltimore area-women that a career in carpentry is possible for them,” said John Ballantyne, Executive Secretary-Treasurer of Northeast Regional Council of Carpenters. “The Sisters in the Brotherhood program is helping to break through barriers that construction jobs could only be filled by men. That’s something we are trying to change, because our organization believes that jobs don’t have a gender.”

The graduation ceremony opened with remarks from: Susan Schultz, NRCC Council Representative and Chair of the Sisters in the Brotherhood Committee; Robert Naughton, NRCC Tri-State Regional Manager; and Timothy Miller, MACTC Training Director.

“Women who participate in our Sisters in the Brotherhood program are enthusiastic, excited, and ready for a challenge,” said Susan Schultz, NRCC Council Representative and Chair of the Sisters in the Brotherhood committee. “The women who graduate from the pre-apprenticeship program go on to become apprentices and on to a career in carpentry. It’s time to dismiss misconceptions about women joining the carpentry workforce, as we are training women to be highly skilled carpenters and contribute productively on the job site throughout the States that our Council represents.”

SIB Pre-Apprentice program is an eight-week training course that prepares women to become carpenter apprentices. The 40-hour per week course trains women carpenters in a variety of in-class curriculum and hands-on training in mathematics, occupational safety and hazards, hand/power tool training and job-site culture. After successful completion of the program, women carpenters graduate to the NRCC Apprenticeship program.

For more information about the NRCC or the Baltimore pre-apprentice program, please visit: http://www.northeastcarpenters.org/baltimore_pre_apprentice_program.

About the NRCC:
The Northeast Regional Council of Carpenters (NRCC) represents nearly 40,000 hardworking men and women in Delaware and New Jersey and portions of Maryland, New York, and Pennsylvania. NRCC is one of the largest trade unions on the East Coast. The NRCC equips professional men and women carpenters with the skills, training and quality workmanship that are demanded in today's construction industry. For more information on NRCC, please visit our website: www.northeastcarpenters.org; Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NortheastRegionalCouncilofCarpenters; or Twitter: @NRCCarpenters.

Contact: Tony Bianchini 
Phone: 609-402-1730