Cincinnati Business Leaders Learn to Weld at Gala

CINCINNATI, OH--(Marketwired - January 27, 2017) - Top leaders of Greater Cincinnati's biggest and best companies joined the Cincinnati Business Courier for its annual Book of Lists Gala at the Jack Cincinnati Casino last Thursday night. The Book of Lists is the Courier's annual compilation of the most successful businesses in Greater Cincinnati. Over 400 business leaders attended the gala celebrating the top-ranked businesses.

A rare attraction stole the show at the event -- a virtual welder from Lincoln Electric at the Iron Workers (IW) Local 44 exhibit. Local 44 is a gold sponsor of the Cincinnati Book of Lists. The virtual welder drew crowds all evening with people wanting to try their hands at welding. Jim Hyden, the apprentice coordinator from Local 44, did an excellent job of explaining the welding process and how to use of the virtual welder and guiding them through their welding passes. "The IW and its labor management arm, IMPACT, are dedicated to preparing competent welders to help fill the skills gap," said Jim Hyden, apprentice coordinator for Local 44. "We have 115 AWS Accredited Training Facilities and 157 training centers around the United States and Canada and an army of 14,000 AWS certified welders in the United States and 6,000 CWB certified welders in Canada."

While people were waiting in line, Dave Baker, business manager from Local 44 and Jarrod Tiemeier, business agent, talked about the world-class IW training programs, contractors, networking opportunities, and the open house to be held at the apprentice competition in April. "Cincinnati top executives and business leaders in their suits and ties and evening gowns standing in line to try the virtual welder was quite a sight," said Jarrod Tiemeier, business agent from Local 44. "What a great opportunity to explain to the business leaders in the Cincinnati area, our focus on safety, quality and professionalism."

The attendees not only had the rare and exciting opportunity to try their hands at welding but also to enter a welding competition. The host later presented awards including a restaurant gift certificate, Echo device and an iconic ironworker sculpture to the top three welder scores from the competition.

Dave Baker, business manager of Local 44, was pleased with the gala and outcome. "We first found out about the value of Cincinnati Business Courier's Book of Lists from the IW Local 70 in Louisville, Ky., which is also a sponsor," said Baker. "We are pleased to be a part of the Cincinnati business community and happy with the wonderful networking opportunity at the gala. We made a commitment through this event to participate in the upcoming Cincinnati Flying Pig Marathon. We hope to give the 40,000 runners a taste of the ironworking industry and I'm certain that the virtual welder will be a crowd-pleaser once again."

The Iron Workers (IW) represents 130,000 ironworkers in North America who work in construction on bridges; structural steel; ornamental, architectural, and miscellaneous metals; rebar; and in shops.