Page 22 - Spring World of Welding - HIWT

Remarkable Career Journeys Begin at Hobart Institute of Welding Technology
Profile of Mike Knisley, Secretary-Treasurer of the Ohio State Building and Construction Trades Council

Rewarding, lifelong careers begin at the Although he was familiar with the welding trade through
Hobart Institute of Welding Technology. an industrial arts class that he took in middle school, he
Just ask Mike Knisley, Executive Secretary- wasn’t passionate about welding but that all changed
Treasurer of the Ohio State Building and over the course of his Hobart Institute education.
Construction Trades Council. Knisley is a “Personally, Hobart Institute laid the foundation for my
Hobart Institute alumnus, class of 1979. success 40 years later leading to my present position at
“Forty years ago, I walked out of Hobart the State of Ohio Building Trades,” says Knisley. “The
Institute with my welding certificate,” says Hobart folks have been very good to my family – not just
Knisley, who is a United Association Local my grandfather and uncle but also my wife, Kate, who is
776 plumber-pipefitter by trade. “I’ve held a a Hobart Institute graduate as well.”
variety of welding jobs in my career but will Like her husband, Kate took advantage of the training
attest that the education I received at Hobart opportunities at Hobart Institute to better her life.
Institute laid the foundation for my success at “For her, the Hobart training was a stepping stone to
each job, and certainly laid the foundation of how I got to where I a better job and, eventually, her final career path,” said Knisley.
am today.” Kate was among the first female students at Hobart Institute.
After earning his welding certificate from what was then the After her graduation the couple worked together in the evenings
Hobart School of Welding Technology, Knisley worked as a welder at a small welding shop that they had at the residence. Eventually,
in a small blacksmith – repair shop and also in manufacturing. In Kate earned her master’s degree and went on to become a college
1987, he was accepted into an apprenticeship with the Plumbers professor in Early Childhood Education. Mike is extremely proud of
and Pipefitters Local 776 in Lima, Ohio. Five years later he began a Kate who actually had better grades than her husband which the
journeyperson career that eventually led him to numerous positions couple joke about on who actually is the better welder in the family.
from instructor to business manager within Local 776 and its Although Kate decided not to pursue a trades apprenticeship, the
Joint Apprenticeship Training Program including being President Hobart Institute experience required discipline and focus that has
of the Lima Building Trades Council. In 2012 Knisley was elected served both of the Knisleys well throughout their professional lives.
President of the Ohio State Building and Construction Trades Knisley recalls one of his early jobs after Hobart Institute, when he
Council (OSBCTC) and eventually ascending to Executive Secretary- pursued work the petrochemical industry in Texas.
Treasurer of the OSBCTC in 2018. Knisley has been a strong voice
at the local, state, and federal level, advocating for the nearly I was applying at a large fabrication facility that made off shore oil
100,000 men and women who put a hardhat on every day working rigs and there must have been 200 other applicants hoping to get a
in the union construction industry in Ohio. weld test that day, because of the reputation and credibility of the
welding school I was considered a serious candidate and able to
“After becoming a journeyman, I applied the trade for 17 years move to the front of the line because of that Diploma of Welding
which allowed me to have steady work with great pay and fringe Technology,” said Knisley.
benefits. It really all goes back to what began at Hobart Institute,”
said Knisley. In fact, the Hobart Institute and the Hobart Brothers “And having the reputation and structure that the school has, made
company played a role in the success of several members of it easier in my apprenticeship to become a plumber-pipefitter,”
Knisley’s family across generations. said Knisley. The UA’s plumber-pipefitter training program and the
mentorship it provides to its apprentices is similar to the Hobart
In the 1920’s, Knisley’s grandfather, C.W. Knisley, earned his Institute methods of instruction, according to Knisley. When
business degree and went to work at Hobart Brothers starting at he was the training coordinator for local 776, Hobart Institute
the ground level delivering phone messages and moved up thru students were among the union’s top recruits and most successful
the ranks until he retired as Hobart’s Worldwide Traffic Manager apprentices.
after 47 years with the company. He also had an uncle who worked
in the 1960’s at the Rod Plant. Knisley credits his grandfather “As training coordinator, I knew I could go to Hobart Institute and
for taking him to a Hobart school open house the year after he’d find great apprentices,” said Knisley. He added that Local 776 and
graduated from high school. the entire UA nationwide has always had a strong relationship with
Hobart Institute.
“After the school open house visit, I became more serious about
my career,” said Knisley, who earned his Hobart welding certificate “We knew that we were getting disciplined and qualified
in 8 months. “Their approach to instruction at Hobart Institute candidates from the program, and they knew, from a job placement
is you walk before you run, and they teach you the basics of standpoint, that the graduates who became UA apprentices were
welding before anything else which worked well for me. I wasn’t going to one of the best places for employment you can go to,” said
intimidated as you sometimes can be with education.” Knisley.

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