L-83’s Knox wins national apprentice competition

Christopher Knox, left, and William Vanmeter receive the Boilermakers National Apprenticeship Area Team Award from Pat Smith, BNAP Coordinator and International rep. Knox placed first in the individual competition, Vanmeter second.

L-40’s Vanmeter takes second place; Southeast Area wins team contest

CHRISTOPHER KNOX, Local 83 (Kansas City, Mo.), placed first in the 20th annual National Outstanding Apprenticeship competition September 23-27 and teammate William Vanmeter, Local 40 (Elizabethtown, Ky.), took second. The pair also won the team award for the Southeast Area. This is the second consecutive year that the Southeast has won the top two individual places as well as the team honors.

Results of the grueling four-day competition, held at the Boilermaker National Apprentice Training Center in Kansas City, Kan., were announced at the annual banquet September 27.

Also competing this year were graduate apprentices Leo Seitz, Local 11 (Helena, Mont.), and Thomas Baker, Local 92 (Los Angeles), representing the Western States Area; Joseph Garfield, Local 107 (Milwaukee, Wis.), and William Sumner, Local 374 (Hammond, Ind.), representing the Great Lakes Area; and David Cook, Local 197 (Albany, N.Y.), and John Williamson, Local 154 (Pittsburgh), representing the Northeast Area.

The 2007 Boilermakers National Recognition Award went to co-recipients Brad Bradford (Babcock & Wilcox Construction Co.) and Stanley Miller (PSF Industries, Inc.). Bradford is the outgoing vice chairman of the Boilermakers National Apprenticeship Program. Miller is a retired National Joint Board member and a retired chairman of the Western States Joint Apprenticeship Committee.