The Enzweiler Building Institute of the Building Industry Association of Northern Kentucky (BIA) will hold a groundbreaking ceremony to celebrate the opening of its Covington location.
The new location serves as the second training facility for the trade school and the future home base of the Covington Academy for Heritage Trades. The ceremony will be held on Thursday, January 26 at 3 p.m. at 3923 Winston Ave. in Latonia.
The completed renovation project will provide training in Carpentry, Electrical, Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC), Plumbing, Masonry, Facilities Maintenance and Remodeling, and Welding, as well as the home base of the Academy for Heritage Trades.
The Enzweiler Building Institute (EBI) teaches a variety of skilled construction trades. (Photo courtesy of the EBI)
“The opening of the Enzweiler Building Institute’s Covington location gives our residents and students the opportunity to access a high-demand, high-wage training program that will lead to sustainable careers and a bright future,” said Covington Mayor Joe Meyer. “Of the many decisions we’ve made, this partnership with the Building Industry Association of Northern Kentucky and the City of Covington is one of the most important.”
“Many organizations talk about workforce development, but the Building Industry Association and the City of Covington are taking action with this new training facility for teaching building trades,” said Tom West, Covington’s Economic Development Director. “The City’s economic development department has made talent attraction and development a priority this year and our partnership with the Enzweiler Building Institute helps us implement that strategy in a very concrete way with the opening of the construction trades school in Covington and the coming-soon Heritage Trades Academy.”
The project is funded through various sources which include the Kentucky Work Ready Skills Initiative, the Duke Energy Foundation, Kentucky Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act funds from the Commonwealth of Kentucky Education and Labor Cabinet and through a Workforce Development Agreement with the City of Covington. Funding sources for the Covington Academy for Heritage Trades include the Kentucky Heritage Council, The Kentucky Workforce Innovation Board’s Discretionary Fund, the American Rescue Plan Act, and the Greater Cincinnati Foundation.
“We are very pleased to support the BIA on this impactful opportunity they are providing to residents in Northern Kentucky,” said Rhonda Whitaker Hurtt, vice president community relations for Duke Energy Ohio and Kentucky. “In the economic development work we handle at Duke Energy, we see the need for additional skilled construction workers. We can’t afford a shortage in order to keep up with the pace and continued trend of business and residential growth in our region.”
The total investment in the project is over $1.3 million. Combination classrooms and hands-on laboratories will house programs in electric, HVAC and plumbing. Facilities Maintenance students will utilize most of the space in class and laboratory instruction for the Covington Academy for Heritage Trades.
Classes begin January 31. Post-secondary evening adult courses will be offered in all trades from 6-9 p.m. Daytime instruction will be offered to all area high school students through schools that enter into an agreement to utilize training at the facility in the fall of 2023. High school courses of study include an Introduction to Trades program that earns the student four hours of school credit.
The Enzweiler Building Institute is the longest-running, continually operating private trade school operated under the auspices of the National Association of Home Builders. Operating since 1967, the institute’s main campus is at the Building Industry Association of Northern Kentucky’s Building Center located at 2751 Circleport Drive in Erlanger and its Covington Location at the Latonia Commerce Center.
Enzweiler Building Institute
