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As dark fell in Salem on Veterans Day, a stream of students filed into a brightly-lit classroom in a building nestled among warehouses in north Salem.
Inside, Jack Shanks and Keegan Davis sat at tables with classmates and mulled their instructor’s latest problem: calculating the electrical load for a home using a list of appliances.
The first-year students are among about 650 apprentice electricians who will train this year at the brand-new Independent Electrical Training Center in north Salem. It’s one of the largest apprenticeship programs in the state, and previously operated out of a smaller rented facility on Northeast Portland Road.
The $4 million facility at 3575 Del Webb Ave N.E. opened in September. It’s about 10,000 square feet, with six classrooms.
The new building doubles the lab space available to students, with more modern equipment. It also has more common areas for students to relax or work between classes.
It’s run by the Independent Electrical Contractors of Oregon, the Tigard-based organization for non-union electricians.
“It’s an excellent facility for what we’re doing,” Shanks said. He’s from Lebanon and is following in his father’s footsteps with his career choice.
Davis, from Independence, said he’s pursuing an electrician career so he can take care of his family. He just welcomed a baby and wanted a stable job with a good wage.
“There’s always guaranteed work for it,” he said.
Apprentices at the center can take one of two paths. There’s a two-year program for limited residential electricians, who can work on homes and apartments. A four-year inside electrician program allows graduates to also do commercial and industrial work.
Students in the apprenticeship programs are also enrolled at Chemeketa Community College. Electrician classes used to be held on the college’s Salem campus before they moved to the former facility on Portland Road.
“Hands-on training for students is really important,” said Cindy Regier, the executive director for IEC.
The training center graduates about 175 electricians every year.
In addition to serving the organization’s own apprentices, the center also hosts required training labs for apprentice electricians working all over the state — about 200 students per year, said Jeff Hooper, the IEC’s education director.
Classes are held nights and weekends to work around apprentices’ work schedules.
Ralph Williams, who’s been teaching electrician apprentices for 29 years, said the center is “building our legacy.”
“I’m really excited about having our own facility. It’s a little more ownership,” he said.
Contact reporter Rachel Alexander: [email protected] or 503-575-1241.
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Rachel Alexander is Salem Reporter’s managing editor. She joined Salem Reporter when it was founded in 2018 and covers city news, education, nonprofits and a little bit of everything else. She’s been a journalist in Oregon and Washington for a decade. Outside of work, she’s a skater and board member with Salem’s Cherry City Roller Derby and can often be found with her nose buried in a book.
