WNYLaborToday.com Editor’s Note: Pictured above, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 237 Business Manager John Scherrer (on the left) and Local 237 Organizing Director Nick Coyle show off the new home of the Niagara County Building Trades Local’s Apprenticeship Program, which will be housed inside a former grade school building the Union has acquired in the nearby Town of Bergholz.  Training there is expected to begin in September, the two Union Officials tell Your On-Line Labor Newspaper.   (WNYLaborToday.com Photos)

(NIAGARA FALLS) – After years of its Apprenticeship Training Program being offered in multiple locations, Niagara Falls’ International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 237 has acquired a former grade school building in the nearby Hamlet of Bergholz, which will serve as the new home for its training programs for Apprentices and Journeymen.

WNYLaborToday.com met with Local 237 Business Manager John Scherrer and Organizing Director Nick Coyle late last week to take a look at the new location and talk about what lies ahead for the Niagara County IBEW Local and its 175 Active Members and 200 Retirees.

“It was built in 1950.  It has one floor and (10,000) square feet and new windows,” said Scherrer, while providing WNYLaborToday.com with a walking tour outside the building. 

In addition to the brick building itself, the facility sits on a nice piece of land with an adjoining parking lot, which will provide the Union with limitless opportunities to accommodate its Membership in a variety of ways, including holding future outdoor events on site.

“I live in this neighborhood and walked by numerous times.  ‘I always thought it would be perfect’ (for Local 237),” he said.

The Union has signed a letter of intent with the Town of Wheatfield after its Zoning Board voted 5-to-0 to approve the sale to Local 237.

“We have early occupancy and are hoping to have our Apprenticeship Program going by September,” Scherrer said. “Then we will be moving our Union Offices from a building we’re currently headquartered in (on Niagara Falls Boulevard in Niagara Falls) next Summer (2021).”

While there was slight opposition from a neighbor of the school building, which is located in a residential neighborhood, Local 237 Organized Nick Coyle said it was Scherrer’s passionate address to the Town that brought about a positive decision for the Union.

“John ‘drove home’ several points,” Coyle recalled.  “He said that ‘it would continue to be a school’ - that it ‘wouldn’t be anything (negative) and how important it was to him because he lives in this area.’  Also that he ‘wouldn’t bring anything into his neighborhood that he (himself) wouldn’t be proud of.’”

Scherrer also underscored his Local’s commitment to the local community, tipping his hat to the former Business Manager Russ Quarantello, who passed away about a year ago.

“We provided the Town with a list of the community involvements our Union takes part in, from blood drives to Little League, and I have to give Russ credit for doing those things (and getting his Union involved).  We’re trying to keep that going,” he added.

Over the years, Local 237 has conducted its Apprenticeship Training in a number of locations, from classroom training in its Niagara Falls Boulevard Union Hall (where limited hands-on experience was afforded to the Local’s Apprentices), to Niagara Falls High School to BOCES (Boards of Cooperative Educational Services).

The COVID-19 Pandemic threw a monkey wrench into the current training schedule, as it has with so many other Building Trades Unions since the first of the year, but the two Local 237 Representatives are looking forward to operating their training program in the new location.

“We have (50) Apprentices in our program (currently) and ‘everyone is excited about this acquisition, especially the Membership - who overwhelmingly approved it,’” Scherrer said.

“They’ve’ wanted a training center for a long time,’” Coyle added.

“We ‘also had to get the approval of our International, which we got,’” Scherrer said. 

“After all, we’re a ‘skilled’ Trade and ‘we want our Members to be the best.’  ‘This will move us forward and help us provide an even better product – a Worker who knows what they’re doing, a more employable’ Member.  There are a lot of retirements happening and ‘there is a real need for skilled Electricians,’” he said.

The Coronavirus also threw a monkey wrench into the employment opportunities afforded through Union Contractors in Niagara County. 

Scherrer said at the height of COVID-19 here in Western New York, about 60% of Local 237’s Membership were unemployed, but now - as the number of infections has gone down, only 15 Members find themselves on the bench, so to speak.

But there is hope.

There are a number of projects, Scherrer said, that will keep Local 237’s Membership busy in the months to come, including work in the Niagara Falls School District, at the New York State Power Authority, and the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge’s new Customs Building, to name just a few.