Last month, we hosted a company-wide party to celebrate the graduation of four team members from our Welding Apprenticeship Program! Since many of our employees are located all over North America, it’s important that we make a concerted effort to get everyone together and celebrate our accomplishments as a group. It was great to see team members who don’t get much face-to-face interaction — like our construction and service staff members — in attendance together. With summertime approaching, the apprenticeship party was a great chance to get everyone together in one place.

The 2018 Graduating Class is our second class of graduates and consisted of four students from our manufacturing division: Hugo Fernandez, Brandon Fralin, Colin Buckingham, and Jorge Martinez. Becoming a state-recognized Journeyman Welder is no small achievement — Virginia requires each student to complete 8,000 hours of both classroom and on-the-job training. Our dedicated students attend classroom sessions after their workday; then, they complete hands-on tasks during the day as part of their learning experience. We’re excited to see the growth and accomplishments of our apprentices. Congratulations, gentlemen!

Innovative is looking forward to annual graduating classes in years to come. Our graduating classes will only get bigger and more frequent — we have new electrical and insulation programs rolling out this year.