Illinois Valley Times

Ottawa City Council honored apprentices in the city during its Nov. 15 meeting recognizing their impact on local businesses.

Andy Moreno, a member of Operating Engineers Local 150, said that local building trades have had a "great working relationship" with the city of Ottawa in the past, and these organizations will continue to support the city going forward.

“What we've done at the building trade level in the last couple of years, we've set up panels and gone out to local schools,” Moreno told council. “All those kids, all they ever heard was going to school, you know, college, college, college."

Through these efforts, students now have a complete picture of the career paths open to them.

"Well, what we've done is we've gotten with the guidance counselors and started these programs where we're reaching out to the kids at that level, getting with the counselors and getting the trades pushed," Moreno said, then clarified, "Not so much pushing the trades, letting them know what the building trades have to offer, letting them know the wages, the benefits, you know, in what we can offer the kids, men and women in what's out there.”

Council also heard a presentation from the Indiana Illinois Iowa Foundation For Fair Contracting (FFC), a nonprofit labor management organization, discussing the city’s Better Bidder Ordinance, which was adopted in 2010 with an update proposed. The ordinance recognizing the FFC is a statement from the city showing a commitment to hiring and maintaining quality construction in the city. A recommended revision would verify business registrations in the city as well as conduct updates of apprenticeship and training and ensure the ability to prequalify contractors.

The council was asked to update the apprenticeship component of the ordinance to ensure that businesses and other groups can grow in a way that benefits the workforce. With apprentices completing an average of 7,300 hours of training, officials said the update would help keep families from moving away and provide more opportunities for young people, enabling them to earn a good living without a college degree.

After voting to adopt a fair bidding resolution, council issued a proclamation to recognize apprentices and the 85th anniversary of the Apprenticeship Act. The council also declared a week in November as Apprenticeship Week.

The council meeting was held in its Chambers and streamed on YouTube.