WNYLaborToday.com Editor’s Note: Pictured above, Tim Benes is SMART (Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation) Local 71’s new Business Manager.  A 21-year Member of the Buffalo Building Trades Union who previously served as its Apprenticeship Instructor, Business Agent and Recording Secretary, Benes now leads Local 71’s 600 Membership, setting a course to not only increase that number, but attract individuals into his Union who may not be aware of the great living they can enjoy as a Unionized Sheet Metal Worker.  (WNYLaborToday.com Photos)

(BUFFALO, NEW YORK) – Tim Benes, the new Business Manager of SMART (Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation) Local 71, said he was initially attracted to his Building Trades Union 21 years ago by what he could earn.  Now he’s looking to grow his Union’s Membership of 600 by convincing others that this “simple path (he chose) was one of the best decisions” he’s ever made in his life.

“‘Straight up, it was the money because I was looking for a good paying’ job,” Benes recently told WNYLaborToday.com at Local 71’s Union Offices/Training Center on Buffalo’s East Side.  “Making ($27) an hour ‘was so much money back then.’  I was a Substitute Teacher in the Buffalo School System ‘so it made sense’ to become a Training Instructor ‘because I thought it was a really good’ job.  (Looking back), ‘becoming a Sheet Metal Worker was the best decision I ever made.’  It was a ‘simple’ path, ‘one I want to show people.’  ‘There’s a lot of work to fill out there over the next three to five years and there’s a lot of money to be made.’”

Benes became a Local 71 Member back in 2002 before eventually rising to an Apprenticeship Instructor and then as the Union’s Business Agent (BA) and Recording-Secretary. 

When former Business Manager Paul Crist was tapped by SMART’s International to become a Region 1 Representative (responsible for 17 Eastern SMART Locals), Benes was appointed Business Manager to fill out his term in December 2023. 

Benes then ran for a full three-year term (he ran unopposed) that now runs until 2027.

“Tim’s heart ‘is certainly in the right place,’” Crist (Pictured Below) told WNYLaborToday.com.  “He’s ‘always been there to defend the little guy, teach them and help them fit in.’  ‘He speaks his mind and he’s ahead of the game because he’s worked in the field.’  ‘That’s why he’s good at making decisions on the fly.’  ‘He’s a really loyal person and trustworthy, and up front with you - honest.’  He’s the ‘right’ team leader ‘and he has the right guys to lead the Local at this time.’”

Local 17 Business Representative Michael Nelson, a Member since 2025 who like Benes became an Apprenticeship Instructor, recalls Benes taking “the most boring training class: blueprint reading, and making it interesting and better.”

“‘Everything he does he pours his heart into - he also cares about our Members,’” Nelson (Pictured Below, Next To Benes On The Right) said.

Local 71 currently represents 600 Members (including 500 Active), with 90 presently in the Building Trades Union’s Apprenticeship Training Program. 

Around 110 are employed by Goergen-Mackwirth Company, Incorporated and another 90 who work for the John W. Danforth Company, both headquartered in the Buffalo area. 

In addition, the Local has as many as 20 of its Members presently working out at the new Buffalo Bills Stadium that’s being constructed in nearby Orchard Park, with a projected 100 Members who will work on the stadium during its construction over the course of time.

And more work is coming - from Amazon’s massive Niagara Falls Project to Edwards Vacuum’s $319 million construction project just down the road in Genesee County.

“‘There’s a lot of money to be made out there because there’s a lot of work to fill.’  And indoor air quality projects ‘are happening in so many schools and office buildings, especially after what we went through with COVID.’  We’ll also have some of our Members traveling to work at the new CHIPS Plant that’s being built outside Syracuse.  ‘There’s a great need for clean rooms there, giant ones because of the need for air quality on the level of a surgical room in a hospital.’  ‘There’s going to be a lot of ductwork there,’” Benes said.

“I am ‘super proud of the quality work our Members are performing because we are the best.’  Western New York ‘really has a superior workforce, I strongly believe that.’  ‘We are the best and we work very hard to keep it that way,’” he added.

Local 71’s new Business Manager is also extremely proud of his Union’s $1.3 million Training Center, which was officially opened in July 2021 and was navigated through the process by former Business Manager Crist (who told WNYLaborToday.com that he too was proud to have been “a piece of the process”) and John Helak before him.

The project involved purchasing a dormant two-story building and expanding Local 71’s existing training facility by 7,500 square feet to a now, combined and overall 19,000 square feet of space - with an outdoor 21-vehicle parking lot to boot. 

It was all paid for by Member dues and a $377,000 New York State Empire State Development Grant. 

In addition, another $80,000 was invested into new training equipment for the center.

“We’ve hired a Grant Writer ‘to (further) bolster’ our Training Program,” said the 42-year-old Benes, adding his Local’s Membership are exposed to a number of programs, from testing and balancing to HVAC to a CAD Lab. 

Said Crist: “The Training ‘will help our Members keep up with the times and have a place to learn where they feel comfortable.’ (Leadership) ‘has helped lay that foundation.’  ‘We all have stood on the shields of those who came before us.’”

Added Benes: “We’re hoping to offer wrap-around services for our Apprentices too, such as child care ‘so we can get them through the system.’  ‘It’s because we care about our Members.’”

Added Nelson: “‘Anything we can do to help them.’”

And it seems to be working.

Both Benes and Nelson told WNYLaborToday.com the Local has interviewed more than 200 applicants for its Apprenticeship Training Program. 

And, with an open, on-line opportunity the Building Trades Union offers on its website (SMART Local 71), anyone can apply “(24) hours a day.”

So why wouldn’t anyone be interested in an earn-while-you-learn opportunity that starts them out at a combined wage and benefit package of just under $38 an hour in their first year of Apprenticeship training to just over $60 an hour in their fifth year as they reach Journeyman status?

“You’re looking at a yearly salary of ($80,000) a year ‘with no’ overtime.  ‘Heck, some of our Members will be making more than ($100,000),’” Benes said.

And no one can argue that that’s not a bad selling point when it comes to attracting new Members into Local 71.

WNYLaborToday.com Editor’s Note: For More On Local 17 And Its Apprenticeship Training Facility, Read: “This Was The Place To Be” - SMART Local 71’s ‘Commitment To Breathing New Life Into Blighted Property Hailed’ By NYS Lt. Governor Hochul, Who Officially Helps Open The Union’s New Training Facility On Buffalo’s East Side - WNY Labor Today: Your On-Line Labor Newspaper, Bringing You Labor News From Across The Nation, New York State & Western New York