Electricians, carpenters, plumbers and many other hardworking Americans belong to unions.
CBS News Chicago found a nonprofit that connects minority candidates with the jobs of their dreams. One of them was a young man who said the organization helped him find his calling.
Nicolas Gamino said that working as an apprentice electrician is more than a job.
“I like wiring,” he said. “You see the little details.”
It is a continuous learning process.
“When you think you’ve mastered everything you’re doing, then suddenly something new comes along and you think, wow,” Gamino said.
He said he feels like he learns something new every day.
“It never gets old,” Gamino said. “It never does.”
Gamino found his apprenticeship through Hire 360, a nonprofit that recruits, trains, and connects minority candidates with top developers, contractors, and unions in the construction industry.
“We go out and work with community partners and just talk to a lot of candidates about the great pride that comes with building a building, and the health care, the retirement benefits,” said Jay Rowell of Hire 360. “In the construction unions, you get paid to earn while you learn as a new apprentice, and these are really incredible opportunities.”
A family crisis made Gamino think about the crafts. His mother became very ill.
“She had cancer and at that point it was a reality check,” he said. “I always want to take care of my parents. I owe them a lot. I wanted to do everything I could to help them.”
And Gamino says Hire 360 has helped him every step of the way.
“They help you figure out where you want to go,” he said.[And] “Narrowing down my options to figure out which trade suits me best.”
For Gamino, the electric option was the answer.
“When you go into a building, you look up and you see lights,” Gamino said. “I take pride in being able to walk into a building, look at it, and think, ‘I know what’s going on in there. I know how this works. I know the steps, the process, the hard work that went into doing it all.'”
Related Midwest was a founding member of Hire 360. Related Midwest’s Yanet Garcia said it’s heartening to hear a story like Gamino’s, where young people are identifying a career in the construction industry for themselves.
She said Hire 360 Related Midwest helped identify minority- and women-owned businesses and find local workers, “so we can connect them with our contractors on site.”
Garcia said good real estate development is more than just buildings. It’s about building a community.
“You can’t build successfully if you don’t build with the community,” Garcia said. “Our inherent responsibility as real estate developers and builders in the city of Chicago is to include minority- and women-owned businesses.”
Gamino said he’s proud to be in that fold. He’s going all in.
“I love what I do,” he said. “This is my career. This is the path I want to follow for the rest of my life.”
When the building he is currently working on is finished, he will be very happy. He says he “knows that the things I do here will last for generations.”
Since its founding in 2020, Hire 360 has placed more than 400 people across all unions in the Chicago region.
After his apprenticeship, Gamino wants to get a degree in electrical engineering. He tells that his mother has overcome cancer and is doing very well.
For more information about Hire 360, visit Hire360Chicago.com.
Joe Donlon
