Halco Opens Technical School for Displaced Workers

As part of its ongoing commitment to community workforce development, Halco has opened a technical school to provide training for displaced and underemployed workers.

The 40 hour/week course, which began January 3, uses the National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER) curriculum. Each eight-hour day of the 25 week course will be split into five hours of hands-on and three hours of classroom training per day.

The school, which is being conducted in cooperation with Monroe Community College, can train up to 25 students per semester. Fifteen students are enrolled for this first semester. Potential students from Ontario, Wayne, Seneca and Yates counties are referred by the Workforce Investment Board and other agencies charged with retraining displaced and underemployed people.

Throughout the training, students will learn the essentials of heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC); electrical; plumbing; and sprinklers. In the hands-on portion of the training, students will construct actual prefabricated assemblies that will be installed in company construction projects, rather than models that will be scrapped or disassembled for use by future classes.

After completion of the course, the students will be able to concentrate on the specific trade in which they want to further their training and will also be placed with an HVAC company in the area.

Established in 1984, Halco is the largest plumbing, heating and air conditioning contractor in the Finger Lakes. The Phelps-based company is very involved in the development of the workforce in the community and has received numerous awards in its ongoing effort to increase the number of trained service professionals. Halco recently completed a 12,000 square foot expansion to its headquarters to make room for the new technical school, the growing staff and expanded services.