Orlando A. Correa is a 2012 graduate of the Building Futures program of Apprenticeship Rhode Island, part of the American Apprenticeship Initiative. The program paves the way for skilled advancement while preventing its participants from going into debt for training. Correa is now an ironworker with Iron Workers Local 37 in East Providence.
1. How did you get into the construction field? I was already working in general labor. I worked at a concrete company, at a municipal water treatment plant, installing dewatering systems. I also worked for a tree service. I jumped around a lot for 16 to 18 years.
2. How did Building Futures impact you? The program certified me as a welder. I spent close to a year working as an apprentice at Rhode Island Welding & Fabricating in Providence on Turner Street, doing some work at The Foundry. I really honed my skills there. I worked for six months with [offshore-wind power developer] Deepwater Wind and did some projects at Johnson & Wales [University] and South Street Landing. I got an opportunity as a third-year apprentice at HB Welding [in Johnston], then a call to go back to Rhode Island Welding. I was a journeyman and then became their foreman.
3. What has your experience been like being a member of a union? I had thought that I would be a renter for my whole life. My first year in the union I was making good money but had no credit card. It took a full year to get my credit score to the point where I could purchase a home. I had never thought of buying a home when I was going through those struggles.
In 2016, I bought my house in the lower South Side of Providence. … The house had been abandoned for over six years. It needed everything. Because of the confidence I now had as an ironworker, I felt I could attack any project.
Susan Shalhoub is a PBN contributing writer.
