The ITI has recently announced a new grant to help training centers build or upgrade a testing, adjusting and balancing (TAB) lab. These TAB-specific training labs are in demand as unionized sheet metal workers become certified to handle the increased amount of TAB work throughout the country.
The TAB Lab Upgrade or Construction Grant provides 80% reimbursement up to a maximum of $32,000. This is an additional grant, available to JATCs of all accreditation levels, and does not count against the number of grants allotted per accreditation level. It can also be combined with other grants.
Darrell Garrison, field representative and TAB specialist with the ITI, said that the need for qualified TAB workers has grown exponentially. The ITI has listened, as locals have reached out and communicated what they have heard from contractors.
“The need is there, and a lot of JATCs struggle with the funding,” Garrison said. “With data centers, chip plants, battery plants, infrastructure work, and anything high tech . . . we need to do more than just fly people out to existing TAB labs. JATCs need their own labs — it just makes more sense to have the training locally.”
The ITI has also been working hard to identify and negotiate discounts on TAB instrumentation to put into these new labs from companies such as Evergreen Telemetry, Testo and TSI/Alnor.
Training programs can also be the recipients of donated equipment from companies such as Fluke Corporation, which chooses one school a month to receive free meters, or The Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI), which operates a donation program to give away units that have been field tested and rated.
The ITI hopes the new TAB grant, along with other opportunities for funding and equipment, will help sheet metal locals everywhere meet the moment.
“There’s a huge amount of work going on . . . we also have to replace the workforce that’s retiring,” Garrison said. “The onus for recruiting is on the locals, but we are here to assist in building new labs and getting JATCs what they need.”
For additional information on grants, and how to use them, as well as discount and donation programs from manufacturers, contact your ITI regional field representative.
