Month: November 2022

Cincinnati Public Schools athletics partners with LiUNA Local 265 to promote workforce opportunity

A new partnership between Cincinnati Public Schools (CPS) and a local Ohio laborer’s union has proven beneficial for student athletes now and possibly in their future if they decide to head into the construction industry.

Financial support from the Cincinnati-based Laborers’ Local 265 — an affiliate of LiUNA (Laborers’ International Union of North America, AFL-CIO) representing 1,600 construction workers — resulted from a DistrictWON-facilitated partnership with the CPS Athletics Department.

“LiUNA is a group that is out there working hard in the community and continues to partner to positively impact the lives and future of the Cincinnati community,” said CPS Athletics Manager Josh Hardin. “We are grateful for their support.”

From the partnership, Hardin said CPS is able to provide students with more equipment and supplies, as well as support CPS coaches with the professional development and training they need to lead and mentor students toward a brighter future.

“It means so much to Cincinnati Public Schools to have such supportive partnerships for our schools, students and community,” Hardin added, saying the partnership and support has impacted CPS programs and allowed students to do more.

“I am certain the exposure of LiUNA at our schools and at our All Star game has created more awareness for our students since our partnership began,” he said. “We have received questions from our students and know they are continuing to look for more opportunities, such as what is being provided by our great partners at LiUNA.”

And awareness continues to grow because LiUNA Local 265’s career opportunities are being highlighted, providing a huge boost for its Ohio members and the construction industry, according to Justin Phillips, business manager and secretary-treasurer at the organization.

“We started our PR campaign with DistrictWON to strike up a relationship with CPS as a way to promote the construction industry, which is now coming back around with passage of the federal infrastructure bill,” Phillips explained, noting that the construction industry is expected to produce 20 percent of GDP over the current two percent to three percent.

To meet the demand, Phillips said the construction workforce pipeline needs to expand. And through its partnership with CPS, LiUNA Local 265 is getting out that message while also contributing vitally needed dollars to CPS athletics.

“We want to give back to the schools,” Phillips said, “and we’re continuing to grow our relationship.”

The partnership provides union advertising at games via banners, signs, and swag, such as team towels that get handed out during CPS football games. Local 265 also gets promoted over the PA system at games and via digital signs and social media at almost every school, said Phillips.

“We have direct access,” he said, adding that union members now speak directly with tons of people interested in workforce development opportunities, including the school board.

“It’s been well worth it,” said Phillips. “Our message is getting out there that the construction industry is a very viable career with outstanding benefits, a pension, apprenticeships, and a great hourly wage that rivals those for college graduates.”

And in the age of skyrocketing college tuition costs, Phillips said those kinds of opportunities and wages should be enticing to a diverse population of prospective construction industry workers, including women.

Rocky River, Ohio-based DistrictWON creates meaningful brand connections within local communities through marketing partnerships between businesses and high schools. For more information on how to reach high school students, parents and administrators in a way that truly makes a difference in the community, visit https://www.districtwon.com, https://www.facebook.com/districtwon, or follow https://twitter.com/districtwon on Twitter.

Akron Public Schools embraces partnership with LiUNA Local 894 and opportunities for its students

Akron Public Schools (APS) in Ohio received a hefty contribution from a local labor union, which forged a partnership brokered by DistrictWON that also includes informing students and the community about opportunities that exist in the building and construction trades industry after graduation.

Laborers Local Union No. 894, a chartered affiliate of LiUNA (Laborers’ International Union of North America, AFL-CIO), is headquartered in Akron, Ohio, and represents approximately 1,300 men and women in the building and construction trades industry. LiUNA Local 894 — whose members provide a skilled, in-demand workforce to more than 500 building and heavy highway contractors — recently contributed $7,500 to APS.

“The ultimate goal for APS regarding our students is that they graduate and subsequently enroll into further education, enlist in a service branch of the military, and/or gain employment in the workforce,” said Joseph Vassalotti, coordinator of Secondary Education and Athletics at Akron Public Schools. “Our partnership with LiUNA has certainly increased interest and access to that last goal.”

“Our student athletes, in particular, have been helped by our promotion of skilled trades via LiUNA at contests held in our gyms and stadiums,” Vassalotti explained.

Cedric Sommerville, president of LiUNA Local 894, said because not all students decide to attend community colleges or universities, the union’s partnership with APS allows students the opportunity to learn and become valuable employees of the building and construction trades.

Through LiUNA Local 894’s messaging at APS games, for example, students learn that “there are other career opportunities and jobs in the construction trades, and that the jobs are good paying jobs, along with benefits and pension funds,” Sommerville said.

In fact, according to LiUNA Local 894 Business Manager Vern Floyd, jobs in the construction trades provide a livable wage that starts at $21 an hour or more plus benefits on top of their pay, and workers can retire with a nice pension. “You can’t beat that,” he said.

The union is getting a lot of positive feedback from community members who have heard about LiUNA Local 894 and the benefits of the skilled trades industry over the loudspeakers at football games and via the union’s banners, which are displayed on APS stadium walls, added Floyd.

Sommerville agreed, saying “both students and parents have been extremely receptive, with lots of questions and inquiries regarding our messaging at the games and on banners,” which are all part of its partnership with APS developed through DistrictWON.

“Our support has educated the schools and community, which in turn allows them to get engaged and involved with the building and construction trades,” said Sommerville, adding that it’s always an honor to help the local schools and community.

“We value the future generation of kids, and we want to support them,” he said.

School spirit surges at two Nevada high schools thanks to area businessman’s partnership

Student athletes attending Nevada’s Mineral County High School (MCHS) and Churchill County High School (CCHS) are enjoying stronger school spirit bolstered in part by their newly provided uniforms from an area Farmers Insurance agent, according to athletic administrators and coaches at both schools.

“We can’t thank Curtis Isom and Farmers Insurance enough for all the support we have received,” said Pete Summerbell, athletic director at MCHS in Hawthorne, Nev. “This support has led to a tremendous surge in our school spirit and given our student athletes a lift in their self-esteem.” And the increased support, Summerbell said, has not gone unnoticed by the entire Serpents community, which has “rallied around the school spirit and have increased our attendance at games.”

The same is true at CCHS, where girls’ basketball coach Kevin Wickware says “getting new uniforms has brought a sense of pride to our team.”

Home of the Greenwave in Fallon, Nev., CCHS student athletes usually must wait several years to get a new set of uniforms, said Wickware. “That means our uniforms are usually outdated,” he explained. “But with the help of Curtis, we were able to get updated uniforms and our athletes are grateful for this opportunity and his generosity.”

The contributions also have covered crucial needs left unfilled due to local funding gaps at both schools.

“As budgets for athletics in our school have diminished, Curtis has stepped up and has been a major contributor for all our programs,” said MCHS’s Summerbell.

For example, via a deal brokered by DistrictWON, Isom supplied the Serpents’ volleyball team and the boys’ basketball team with complete home and away uniforms. Last year, Isom also sponsored a White Out day during an MCHS home game and provided more than 200 T-shirts, as well as uniforms for both the girls’ and boys’ basketball teams “that the student athletes could keep,” Summerbell said. “It was a huge success.”

“We look forward to our partnership with DistrictWON, Farmers Insurance, and Curtis Isom,” said Summerbell. “We can’t thank everyone involved enough.”

At CCHS, Wickware said Isom’s partnership provided new uniforms that enabled the team “to focus our small community-raised funds towards our basketball season.” That meant that the CCHS team could pay for other costs associated with tournament entries, programs, and equipment. “The additional donation that Curtis provides alleviates some of the stress our program has in regards to covering certain costs,” said Wickware.

Isom, a second-generation Farmers Insurance agent with two offices — one in Fallon, Nev., (Churchill County) and the other in Hawthorne, Nev. (Mineral County) — is honored to be able to support MCHS and CCHS.

“And the fact that my daughter is an athlete at Mineral County High School definitely was an influence on my decision to provide uniforms to these schools,” he said, adding that “Hawthorne and Fallon have been very good to me and my family.”

As many local businesses do, Isom said he supports a lot of youth events to show that his business is part of the community. But he said the high school programs make his business “stand out from the crowd.”

“The parents and the kids both will remember where the uniforms came from. And that has helped us become more of a presence in the communities,” said Isom, noting that the DistrictWON partnership is also a win for his company.

“When I, or someone from my team solicit business in these communities, people usually know my name,” Isom said. “It automatically gets us a warmer reception.”

Both MCHS and CCHS are public schools that don’t always have the necessary funding for their athletic departments, added Isom. “In recent years, both schools have had some amazing teams and won state championships. So, it doesn’t really sit well with me to see these same teams doing fundraisers for new uniforms,” he said. “I have personally been thanked by parents, coaches, and kids from both schools for doing this program.”