The Electrical Training Alliance has committed to a five-year contract for the Ann Arbor area to continue hosting its annual National Training Institute (NTI), according to an announcement from Destination Ann Arbor.
The NTI brings together thousands of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers members including educators, training directors, and contractors for a week-long series of courses, seminars, and networking events. “It’s people being trained, the vendors, and the people training them,” says Al Snow, Destination Ann Arbor director of sales and service.
The workers divide training between classrooms at Washtenaw Community College (WCC) and facilities at Eastern Michigan University (EMU). Besides the educational aspects, the approximately 2,000 attendees—who often bring family members along—participate in an opening ceremony; welcome reception; trade show; block party that involves many downtown businesses and local residents and includes live music, food, and games; a charity golf event; sporting-clay shooting; and other activities. Destination Ann Arbor helps support the events.
Tim Strickland, director of NTI operations, who is based in Louisville, Tennessee, says the 34-year-old NTI has been held in Ann Arbor since 2009. “Ann Arbor has been a great town for us,” he says. “Washtenaw County has been a great supporter and the folks in Ann Arbor—not just the folks involved in the CVB [Destination Ann Arbor], but the residents there—have been very receptive and come up to us on the street and say thank you for coming to Ann Arbor.”
Snow says it helps local leaders, hotels, restaurants, attractions, and others involved plan better to have a long-term contract in place. “We love the fact that we can plan five years out and know the Main Street Association can know exactly when the block party is … the city knows when they’re going to be here,” he explains. “Restaurants and hotels know we can block those dates.” Snow also notes WCC and EMU also can plan out their summers and classroom spaces with greater ease due to the advance notice.
NTI is actually one of five training sessions national and international trade unions hold in Ann Arbor each summer that Destination Ann Arbor helps to facilitate, Snow notes. They collectively have an approximately $20 million impact on the economies of Ann Arbor and Washtenaw County. The largest is the training event for the United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters, typically with 3,000 participants. Other groups that hold sessions in the city include the Operational Plasterers and Cement Masons International Association; the International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental, and Reinforcing Iron Workers Union; and the United Union of Roofers, Waterproofers, and Allied Workers.
Snow says the training facilities, as well as cooperation and support from WCC and EMU make all the difference. “WCC has really gone above and beyond to configure its whole campus to make it easy for these groups to do training programs,” he says. That aspect is not lost on Strickland.
“We love the city of Ann Arbor and the Washtenaw community area and Ypsilanti,” Strickland says. “It’s a great place to host an event.” The Next NTI is set for July 26-Aug. 1, 2025.
