This training center is critical for us to face the new generation and culture of workers coming into the union.
Larry Jansen Training Center rendering
Constructed in the heart of Compton, California, the new Larry Jansen Training Center is primed to become a critical hub for the next generation of Boilermakers in Southern California. Built to meet the growth of refinery, power generation and infrastructure work across the region, the center reflects Local 92’s (Los Angeles) commitment to delivering a skilled, safe and job-ready workforce at a time when demand is only accelerating.
According to L-92 President and Apprenticeship Coordinator Alfredo Leyva, who’s spearheading the project, the facility offers both convenience and strategic value. It’s located near major refineries and in the county where nearly 80% of Local 92 members reside.
“The big inflation of workload in Southern California is continually demanding a more readily available and safe workforce,” said Leyva. “This training center is critical for us to face the new generation and culture of workers coming into the union.”
The building includes two offices, a cafeteria and a classroom with a large display screen for instruction. Members will receive RSO training, safety attendant training, apprenticeship curriculum, EPRI certification and essential industry safety knowledge for construction sites. Hands-on, practical learning is central to the design. Lincoln Electric is providing 18 welding booths and two cutting stations. Adjacent mock-up stations will include flange connection torquing, gouging, two tube rolling stations and a small-scale heat exchanger, all critical tools for teaching fit-up, alignment and proper torquing before members even step onto a jobsite.
The offices, classroom and cafeteria are complete, and the ventilation systems and welding machines have been purchased. The project now awaits final exterior approvals from the city, including an electrical upgrade that will require a larger transformer, architectural approval for Lincoln Electric’s design, a trash enclosure and exterior ADA compliance updates.
For Local 92, the center represents more than bricks and mortar. “I think it is a major milestone for our future because we have a different generation coming in,” Leyva said. “We must grasp their attention and show them college isn’t the only way. Amazon isn’t the only way. We can give them a better life and a better future.”
The facility bears the name of contractor Larry Jansen, longtime Western States contractor chairman, and a graduate Boilermaker apprentice who went on to become a respected contractor with ARB/Primoris.
Jansen, as a 17-year-old apprentice, was dispatched to his first Boilermaker job in March of 1975. Because he was a minor, his parents had to give their permission for him to indenture. On his very first day, while working high in the air, a large steel cone smashed his pelvis, nearly killing him. After months of recovery, he made a decision that would define the rest of his life: he returned to the union to finish the apprenticeship.
“The Boilermakers gave a poor kid that didn’t have a pot to piss in a pathway to come out of the poorhouse into the middle class,” Jansen said. “It was really the foundation of my future endeavors. It was the opportunity of a lifetime to be in a union and be paid for learning. It was too great an opportunity to give up.”
He completed the four-year program, became a journeyman and, soon after, a foreman. After 10 years in the field, he moved into management of Boilermaker projects and eventually started his own company. Because he was considered management, union rules required him to withdraw from membership. Even so, he never left the craft behind, and his company continues to pursue and perform Boilermaker work.
“Larry has been very influential over a lot of apprentices and journeymen,” Leyva said. “He’s been a big component in contract negotiations for the Boilermakers. He has knowledge and wisdom and he knows our craft. He’s devoted his life to this industry. And as a graduate apprentice himself, he walks the talk.”
From a contractor’s perspective, Jansen said a highly trained workforce determines whether a project succeeds or fails.
“If you have a skilled and trained workforce, you have a more successful project,” he said. “When we’re bidding work, the low bidder usually gets the job. If you’ve made a mistake in your estimate or have an ineffective crew, you won’t be in business very long.”
For major outages, contractors may need to ramp up to 200 Boilermakers in a single week. The union hall and standardized apprenticeship training eliminates the need to recruit and vet hundreds of individuals independently.
“When we call a hall, our expectation is that a journeyman knows everything he should know about the trade,” Jansen said. “They’re saving us the step of vetting a bunch of people for a project.”
Jansen said consistency in training across locals is equally important. Whether training happens in California or another Western States lodge, contractors need to know what to expect, Jansen said. Standardized, up-to-date instruction ensures owners receive the schedule, cost control and quality they demand.
Safety remains paramount. “If you, as a contractor, don’t have an excellent safety record, you’re not going to work for any major owners,” Jansen said. “A skilled and trained workforce is less likely to get themselves hurt. Our safety record as a company for the last 20 years has been in the world-class realm, and it’s because we use union craft. The Boilermakers are part of that.”
Boilermaker work is dangerous, but apprenticeship training in safety, rigging and hazard mitigation reduces risk before a member ever climbs a ladder or handles critical components. Jansen said good Boilermakers don’t just understand what goes into hands-on work, but they also know how to solve problems.
“Good Boilermakers are true mechanics,” Jansen said. “They see a problem and know how to fix it. If they don’t have the tools, they make the tools. Irrespective of what he has, he figures out how to get the job done.”
As the training center prepares to open its doors, Jansen hopes the apprenticeship will do for future generations what it did for him: create a thriving future. He also wants new apprentices to see what an honor it is to be indentured into the union.
“They need to be thankful and grateful to have that opportunity and act accordingly,” Jansen said. “If this isn’t the most important thing in the world for them as far as their future career, we don’t want them. We want someone who is excited and proud to be a Boilermaker. I expect them to honor and respect the whole organization and what it’s going to provide for their future. It’s done that for me and my family.”
The Larry Jansen Training Center will soon hold more than classrooms, welding booths and empty halls. The facility will hold opportunity. The same opportunity that once lifted a young apprentice into the middle class will soon be ready to do the same for a new generation.
