Larry Lombardi went to college fresh out of high school and emerged four years later with a degree in Business Management. During the summers, he held jobs in construction work.
His time on the jobsites stole his interest and after graduation the suburban Pittsburgh carpenter became a union apprentice with Local 230 for the Greater Pennsylvania Regional Council of Carpenters.
About 34 years later, Lombardi is a key superintendent for one of the region’s top construction firms, often being tapped for the most complex and challenging projects. He credits his focus on training for his career success.
“I’ve always kept up on training. I respect the value of education, but I also saw a growing need for certification and specialized skills. I believe that the more certified and skilled you are, the more marketable you are for work.”
Working by day and training on night and weekends, Lombardi consistently enrolls in and completes training courses. One direction that he continues to focus on is safety. He is qualified or certified in courses such as Best Practices in Healthcare Construction, Blood-Borne Pathogens, CPR, OSHA, and others.
“Safety is never the other guy’s responsibility. It’s always your own. The safer you work, the less your employer has to spend on insurance.”
Now a full-time superintendent, Lombardi has been working on challenging healthcare job sites, where the project owner requires the utmost in safe, specialized construction practices. Lombardi is currently a member of Local Union #432.
“All of my training has come in handy at different times, but my safety training is valuable all the time.”
