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:: Thursday, August 19, 2004 ::

From workmen to workhorses By Dan McFeely, Indianapolis Star
We were standing under the Council of Carpenters tent on the far north side of the fair. Here, kids can build their own toolboxes with the help of skilled tradesmen. The carpenters brought enough wood to build 4,000 kits, but over the weekend they called for 1,000 more kits.

"We had them lined out to the sidewalk and halfway down to the street," said Bill Smith, who oversees a Central Indiana carpentry journeyman's program.

While politicians and educators lament the "brain drain" in Indiana, little is heard about "brawn drain." That's because there is none, at least in carpentry.

There are 540 apprentices in the local program, compared with just 190 about a decade ago. Students are men and women ages 18 to 55 -- many of them seeking a career change.

Smith uses the fair booth to tell kids (and their parents) that they can earn up to $60,000 a year as an experienced carpenter. By completing the four-year journeyman's program, they also will earn an associate's degree from Ivy Tech.

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