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.
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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