Every two years, the International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental and Reinforcing Ironworkers Union (Ironworkers International) hosts a National Apprentice Competition.
The Western States Roofing Contractors Association introduced “The Roofing Games” in 2014 at its annual exposition in Las Vegas as a way “to keep contractors on the trade show floor until the close of the show,” says Joel Viera, the group’s director of exposition and events.
The annual apprentice competition held by the United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry of the U.S. and Canada—known as the UA—displays the skills of the newest generation of union members while helping the union leadership to gauge the new plumbers’ prowess.
Gary Johnson, the Libertarian Party candidate for president, started a New Mexico mechanical contracting firm in the 1970s whose later sale made him a millionaire.