Gary residents will be given preference on the Indiana University Northwest-IVY Tech construction project at 35th and Broadway, but with a caveat.
IVY Tech President Marlon Mitchell, Gariup Construction co-owner Alex Gariup and IUN Chancellor William Lowe told job seekers during a Northwest Indiana Federation of Interfaith Organization meeting Thursday evening that of the more than 500 people expected to be hired for the $45 million project, applications submitted through the Federation will be handed to the union halls through which people will be hired. In turn, Gariup said he will continue to ensure those applicants are considered first – after he brings back many of his own people, who’ve been laid off because of recent slow workloads.
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Gariup told a packed room at Trinity Baptist Church in Gary it’s only fair he gives the approximately half of his 80 to 100 craftsman first crack at those jobs. Of those employees, he said at least 20 of them are Gary residents themselves.
“These 40 to 50 regular guys deserve my consideration first,” Gariup said. “I have no control over the balance of the work, and there’s no mandate to use Gary residents, but I do, and I’m proud of that.”
Gariup also explained that through the state’s right-to-work law, the union halls aren’t allowed to discriminate on the basis of union membership, so everyone should have a fighting chance at getting in on Gariup’s $3.5 million portion of the project.
“I have no control over the subcontractors I use, but I do advocate for Gary, and I’m sure I’ll get some cooperation,” Gariup said.
When IUN released that more than 500 people will be used, it failed to explain that all 500 wouldn’t be onsite at the same time, Gariup said. Each job runs fairly small, so 30 people might be used for clearing the dirt and laying the foundation, for example, and 15 to 20 would put up the structural steel, he said.
They will, however, be 500 different people, Gariup said.
The Rev. Dwight Gardner, who moderated the panel, said he appreciated Gariup’s candor and remains positive Gary residents will have a fair shot.
“We understand this is skilled labor construction,” Gardner said. “But our expectation is to do our due diligence for those who have the skills. If we do that, everyone wins.”
Carpenter Darryl Sanders, of Gary, a 36-year member of Hobart Local 1005, was a little less confident. He asked Gariup how many of this employees are Gary residents.
“I think this is a good ceremony, but we’ll see,” Sanders said. “I’ve worked for Gariup before, and I want to again, but he does use his guys first.”
Brea Blakely, also of Gary, also appreciated the panel’s “realness” but doesn’t underestimate the Federation’s power in getting jobs for the community.
“I just started working at Edsal in May, so I believe in what they’re saying,” she said.
The new building is slated for completion in March 2017, Gariup said.
Lowe said campus-wide, IUN has 60 percent women or minority-owned businesses working for it, and 52 percent of its professional service contracts are served by women or minority-owned businesses. The state mandates 12 percent and 16 percent, respectively.
Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.