(LAKEVIEW, NEW YORK) – Over the course of two days this week - on Tuesday (September 29th) and Wednesday (September 30th), more than 1,000 High School Students from across the region will make the trek to Lakeview (just south of Buffalo) to experience Western New York Construction Career Days, which is being held for the 18th time at International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 17’s sprawling 400-acre Training Facility.

The event that is put on by the Buffalo Building & Niagara County Construction Trades Council is aimed at not only introducing the 11th and 12th Grade High Schoolers, both male and female – who are from 35 different schools across the region, to a potential career in the Unionized Trades, but help to replenish a local workforce whose current Members are growing older and either getting ready to retire or will retire in the not-too-distant future.

Over the years, Western New York Construction Career Days has grown into an amazing experience where young people get an array of hands-on and virtual opportunities to work with bricks and concrete, repel down a scaffold and operate an array of heavy machinery, to name just a few, all under the watchful eyes and guidance afforded by a host of Union Retirees who graciously donate their time.

Over its lifetime, Construction Career Days Officials say “in excess of” 20,000 Western New York High School Students have attended their event.

And while specific numbers aren’t available, many of the Trades are now seeing new Members come aboard who as High Schoolers attended Construction Career Days - including 20-year-old Jake Stickney, now a second-year Apprentice with IUOE Local 17.

Stickney, who attended as a Junior and then as a Senior while at Starpoint High School in Niagara County, is now working on a Data Center project in Lockport, where he’s running a tele-hander (telescopic) forklift and gaining other valuable experience, including operating a crane.

Asked if attending Construction Career Days as a 17-year-old and then as an 18-year-old had any impact on him making a decision to get into the Skilled Trades, Stickney told WNYLaborToday.com: “‘(100%) for sure.’ ‘One of the things that hit me was how vast the (IUOE) Training Center was.’ I was ‘amazed by all the equipment there and how everyone was so willing to help out.’ ‘It sparked my interest.’ College ‘wasn’t a fit’ (for him). (Going to Career Days) ‘set my decision in stone.’”

And how is his career in the Unionized Trades going?

“‘To say the least, it has been very good.’ I ‘can’t’ complain,” he said. “So many kids ‘are constantly being told they need to go to college and that’s why Construction Career Days is so great when it gets so many kids out (to consider another career path).’”

WNYLaborToday.com recently sat down with four individuals (Pictured Below, From Left To Right/WNYLaborToday.com Photo) who are helping coordinate this year’s Construction Career Days event to get a better picture of what has transpired and what’s to come: Local 17 Training Director Jim “Smoker” Smolinski; Construction Career Days Chair Kelly Roblee, a Local 17 Retiree; Amy Miklas, Career and Technical Education Supervisor for the City of Buffalo’s Public Schools; Oakgrove Construction President Doug May; and Matt Weldon, IUOE Local 17’s Training Coordinator.

Currently Local 17 is enjoying an “all-time high” of 57 Apprentices in its Building Trade Union, Smolinski and Weldon said - and May acknowledged during the discussion that 75% of graduated Apprentices make up the workforce employed by Oakgrove Construction.

“The ‘hands-on activities are great (at Construction Career Days) and we can’t say enough about the (participating Union) Retirees who help the kids,’” Weldon said. “Those ‘who’ve come here in the past tell others (students) and they come to see it for themselves.’ ‘Now, more and more (kids who attend Construction Career Days) are applying (for Apprenticeships) with the Trades. The (State) ‘WDI (Workforce Development Institute) can’t say enough about our event.’ ‘The kids come here to find out if this is for them.’”

“And we’re ‘seeing an increase in the number of Women attending,’” Milas said.

“And our event ‘has become more (ethnically) diverse than it was, say, ten years ago,’” May added.

“It’s ‘gratifying to see so many students,’” Roblee said. “There’s ‘a lot of smiles on their faces.’”

The multi-year construction of the $2 billion-plus Highmark Stadium for the National Football League’s Buffalo Bills in nearby Orchard Park also served as point of interest for young people interested in a career in the Building Trades.

As many as 1,500 Workers (90% of them Union-represented, according to the group) played an instrumental role in building the stadium.

And their work has been highlighted in an excellent, two-part TV special titled Building Buffalo that has aired on ESPN and the NFL Network, which has turned into a further way to interest young people in pursuing construction opportunities with a number of Trades’ Unions.

“(The Stadium Project) ‘brought a lot of pride to the Trades and opened the eyes of young people who want to be part of something good.’ Those that entered the Trades and worked on the stadium ‘can look back (as they get older) at what (they built),’” May said.

Smolinski points out that safety has always been and always will be paramount at Construction Career Days to make sure each High School Student goes home the same way they came.

Each busload of students must first attend an on-site safety meeting and are provided with hard hats and safety glasses.

“It’s ‘always been planned out and we have our Retirees (as many as 35) guiding, teaching and watching over them to make sure it’s safe for the kids, who do listen,’” Smolinski said.

“‘Without our Retirees we couldn’t do this,’” Roblee added.

The event is expensive and much of the cost is defrayed through donations from contractors, companies and several other entities, including everything from equipment to fuel to the hard hats and safety glasses the kids wear and pizzas for lunch from a local pizzeria, as well as from ads sold for the WNY Construction Career Days program.

“It costs about ($54,000) to run,” Roblee said. “And ‘up to another ($100,000)’ in contributions. Our overall costs for our hard hats for the kids runs about ($11,000),” Roblee said. “‘It’s a great opportunity (to introduce the Trades to the students) but quite the expense.’”

The Unions of the area Building Trades include: Boilermakers Local 7; Bricklayers Local 3; Carpenters Local 276; Cement Masons Local 111; Electrical Workers Local 41 and Local 237; Elevator Constructors Local 14; Heat & Frost Insulators Local 4; Ironworkers Local 6 and Local 9; Laborers Local 210 and Local 91; Millwrights Local 1163; Operating Engineers Local 17; Painters District Council 4; Plasterers Local 9; U.A. Plumbers & Steamfitters Local 22; Roofers Local 74; Sheet Metal Workers Local 71; U.A. Road Sprinklerfitters Local 669; and Teamsters Local 449.

Those companies, contractors and entities who have either made contributions or participating in the 2026 Western New York Construction Career Days event include: Alta Heavy Equipment Services; Anderson Equipment; CATCO; the Erie County Sheriff’s Office, Five Star Equipment; Iroquois Bar Corporation; Kandey Company; Lafarge North America; Lincoln Welding; Mark Cerrone; Milton CAT; Milwaukee Tools; Monroe Tractor; Oakgrove Construction; Pinto Construction Services; Saia Communications; Scottlawn/Millawn; Union Concrete and Construction, the United Way; and WDI.

WNYLaborToday.com File Photos Of Past Construction Career Days.