Siteline Interior Carpentry teams with unions for fast-track training program

AUSTIN, Texas - Siteline Interior Carpentry has established a three-day training program to channel workers into jobs at its recently opened plant in Austin, Texas.

Siteline, a Chicago-based architectural millwork firm, is working with the Austin and Dallas branches of the Central South Carpenters Union  whose members span counties in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and Oklahoma. 

Siteline Interior Carpentry opened its Austin, Texas location in 2016, soon after completing a project for retailer Tory Burch. President Thomas Frangella Jr. expected the area to have a plentiful supply of carpenters. But like managers around the country, Frangella is facing a shortage of trained workers. To address that challenge, Siteline has created a three-day training program for carpenters and millworkers, reports the Wall St. Journal. 

The program, which launched in January, will be offered monthly in partnership with carpenters' union centers in Dallas and Austin, to find the "best potential employees within the class, and recruit them to our company," says Frangella. The first effort in January 2018 drew 24 trainees, of which Siteline plans to hire 10. 

With 150 employees, Siteline Interior Carpentry is one of the fastest growing millwork firms in the country, reporting 2016 revenue of $37.3 million and a 5-year growth rate of nearly 400 percent through 2014, earning it Fast 50 recognition by Crain's Chicago Business. 
 
Siteline was recently selected to install the millwork at a new Tiffany & Company flagship store at the Royal Hawaiian Center in Honolulu. The luxury retailer has been working on this new store for over two years, which is will open this year. Siteline has worked on 11 other Tiffany & Company stores, and was selected by the General Contractor, Swinerton Builders. Siteline says it will bring a seasoned crew to Hawaii to lead this effort.
 
"The exceptional detail seen in the jewelry in Tiffany stores is equally reflected in the demanding details within the interiors of their stores," the company says. "We believe that Swinerton Builders understands the value that experience at this level in finish carpentry brings to the development of this new store. We are honored and very much excited about this opportunity."
 
Every location site Siteline works at presents unique challenges; this one will receive support from its Los Angeles office. "The shipping of tools will be one of the logistics challenges that Team Siteline will tackle shortly. Siteline plans to supplement the experienced talent being sent out to Honolulu with some qualified local talent, and we will be discovering ways to seek out the talented carpenters on Oahu," the company says.  
 
Frangella started Siteline Interior Carpentry in 2003. Siteline now has a branch in Los Angeles and in Austin, Texas, and employs more than 300 carpenters in high season. Its home base in Chicago has nabbed projects such as the flagship Burberry store on the tony Michigan Avenue, followed by Virgin Hotels Chicago, Vera Wang, Barneys New York and Giorgio Armani.
 

 

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Bill Esler | ConfSenior Editor

Bill wrote for WoodworkingNetwork.com, FDMC and Closets & Organized Storage magazines. 

Bill's background includes more than 10 years in print manufacturing management, followed by more than 30 years in business reporting on industrial manufacturing in the forest products industries, including printing and packaging at American Printer (Features Editor) and Graphic Arts Monthly (Editor in Chief) magazines; and in secondary wood manufacturing for WoodworkingNetwork.com.

Bill was deeply involved with the launches of the Woodworking Network Leadership Forum, and the 40 Under 40 Awards programs. He currently reports on technology and business trends and develops conference programs.

In addition to his work as a journalist, Bill supports efforts to expand and improve educational opportunities in the manufacturing sectors, including 10 years on the Print & Graphics Scholarship Foundation; six years with the U.S. WoodLinks; and currently on the Woodwork Career Alliance Education Committee. He is also supports the Greater West Town Training Partnership Woodworking Program, which has trained more than 950 adults for industrial wood manufacturing careers. 

Bill volunteers for Foinse Research Station, a biological field station staddling the border of Ireland and Northern Ireland, one of more than 200 members of the Organization of Biological Field Stations.