Six years ago, the Plumbing Contractors Association, a trade group for contactors in the Sunshine State and based in Miami, Fla., launched its own Apprenticeship Program. The four-year program, registered with the Florida Department of Education, consists of some-8,000 hours of education, approximately 48 months of continuous on-the-job employment and a minimum of 144 hours each year of supplemental instruction in technical subjects related to plumbing. Upon satisfactory completion of the program, the apprentice receives a Certificate of Completion of Apprenticeship.

We talked with Gloria Salazar, executive director of the Plumbing Contractors Association to find out more about the program.

PHC News: Tell us about yourself and how you got to the trade association?

Salazar: Prior to joining the association in 2011, I spent time working with homebuilders. That’s my background, and I worked with some of the biggest players in South Florida. But obviously the recession in 2008 changed that for me.

I ended up going to a recruiter who mentioned the job at the association, but doubted that I had the background the group was looking for. Anyway, my resume was one of four sent over. I was the first person they interviewed, and I walked out with the job! I’ve been here ever since.

PHC News: Before we get into the apprenticeship program, can you tell us more about what else keeps you busy with the association?

Salazar: Our mission is to promote causes and policies to improve the local plumbing industry and help our members. To that end, we offer services, education and guidance to our members to help them run their businesses the best they can. And our trade group has been doing that since 14 plumbers got together in 1952 and each contributed $1,000 to form what was then called the Plumbing Industry Program.

I think one the biggest thing we do every year is put on our South Florida Plumbing & Mechanical Trade Show & Expo. It’s one of the largest trade shows in Florida and one of the largest plumbing and heating events in the country. Last year, we had about 1,700 attendees and I think what is interesting about the show is that it’s a one-day event that starts at 3 p.m. and by 8 p.m. we’re done. It’s always in November and this year it be on Nov. 21st at the Miami Airport Convention Center.

This year we’re also adding a new trade show, the 2024 Broward/Palm Beach Plumbing & Mechanical Trade Show & Expo, which will be Sept. 19th at the Palm Beach Convention Center.

And our members also enjoy our annual golf and fishing tournaments, too.

PHC News: How did the apprenticeship program get started?

Salazar: One of our members wanted to know about developing its own apprenticeship program. This a large company with 200-plus employees. They’re all very passionate about plumbing and had a lot of techs who wanted to learn more. So they were holding classes after work, but wanted to do something more formal with a real curriculum.

So as I looked into the regulatory matters more to get something like this going for this one member, I figured this should be a great service that we could offer to all our members.

On the one hand, the contractor who had the original idea, had plenty of staff who really wanted to be trained and advance in their expertise. And on the other hand, I also had a lot of individuals calling into our office wanting to know how they could learn the plumbing and heating trades and become part of our industry.

Considering we already had those two key components, we decided to create the Plumbing Contractors Association Apprenticeship Program.

PHC News: So when did you actually start the program?

Salazar: We got everything approved quickly in 2018. Since we had the support for the program from the entire trade group that’s been in business for almost 70 years at that point in time, we were able to get approved fast. Without this type of backing, we might have had to wait for a couple of years in order to get everything finalized by education regulators.

PHC News: What can you tell us about that first class?

Salazar: We started our first year with about 20 apprentices. In fact, we’ve since graduated two classes. Many of those are still in the field with the same employers that sponsored them originally, although certainly some have moved to other plumbing employers.

I still hear from a lot of them through a group chat we’ve set up for each class. I always encourage every one of our apprentices to keep in touch. If they want to advance in their plumbing careers, we can guide them and give them different options. While most are in the field, there’s plenty of other opportunities to put their trade skills to work.

PHC News: Can you break down the curriculum for us?

Salazar: So our program is two parts. We have a minimum of 144 classroom instruction hours where they come to class once a week for that classroom instruction, and then they must complete 2,000 hours of on-the-job training. The employer sponsors the apprentice into the program. So our program is of no cost to the apprentice. They’re getting paid for on-the-job training and the employer’s agreeing to pay for their schooling.

Most the of initial education covers safety. For example, one of the first things the apprentice study is 10 hours of OSHA training. And then we start in on the basics of plumbing math and tools that they’re going to master throughout the following years.

As they advance with their learning, their corresponding wage increases. And after they complete the apprenticeship program, they can obtain a journeyman license and get a financial reward for accomplishing that.

We have a few different instructors, but they all must be licensed plumbing contractors in order to teach our classes. We have a gentleman, for example, who is a licensed plumbing contractor and also an industrial engineer and who teaches plumbing at one of the local universities. We have a young woman who is a licensed plumbing contractor and works for one of the contractor participating employers, and she does a phenomenal job. And we have an official inspector from one of the local building departments, who’s teaching as well.

PHC News: And what can you tell us about the students?

Salazar: From all walks of life. I’d say that right now we have 23 students and 22 are immigrants from countries like Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela. We’ve had plenty of women students, too, over the years. I think in general we’re also seeing students coming in older than you may think. I have one student in his 40s who started out as a model. He’s a fourth-year apprentice, and he started with us because he realized that looks weren’t going to pay the bills forever. He’d done his homework and found that plumbing was something that would be a good fit for him, and he is done really well.

You never know until you do about who is cut out to be in the trades. For example, I had an NFL player who certainly could cut it to make it to the big leagues. And he’d done his research, too, and knew plumbing was a great place to be. But he didn’t cut it.

PHC News: We understand that as apprentices they’re sponsored and working for your members. But what do you do when someone from the public just calls you and wants to learn and be part of the apprentice program?

Salazar: We certainly do our best to pair them up with members. However, we can’t always do that. But we also don’t want to turn anyone away from learning the trades and staying in the industry. I have an arrangement, for example, with the local union and I’ll send them there if there’s a place for them. We never want to lose a candidate.

I’ll speak with anyone who finds out about the apprentice program online and says they’re looking for a plumbing career. We’ll do our best to find a fit for them. l