Welcome aboard.

A couple of new faces to ICD made the trek to Northwest Indiana in late September for our New Member Training as well as one other to Cleveland in late October.

ICD welcomes Kevin Mahoney, Robert Havens, and Donna Permigiani to the team.

Mahoney is the new ICD coordinator at USW/U.S. Steel Great Lakes in Ecorse, Michigan, while Havens is the coordinator at USW/Goodyear in Topeka, Kansas. Permigiani started as the ICD coordinator at USW/U.S. Steel Mon Valley on October 1.

Mahoney comes to ICD after 27 years-plus at General Motors and over a decade consulting for GM and the UAW.

“The hardest part is walking into a new position and the expectations,” Mahoney said. “But I hit the ground running and I’m trying to find a comfort zone with so many new things to learn.”

Havens knows the pressure of a new position as well. He spent 13 years in the military – both the Marines and the Army – while serving his country for three different presidents. He even did a tour in Iraq while with the Marines.

Havens spent over nine years working at the Goodyear tire plant in Topeka before taking over the position as ICD coordinator.

“I think having somebody from the plant has been beneficial because I know the various shifts and what it takes to balance school and work,” said Havens, a Topeka native. “It’s like a first-hand perspective.”

As if Havens wasn’t busy enough learning a new craft, he and his wife, Katie, welcomed a baby boy, Jameson Wayne Havens, on October 1.

“As a Marine, your biggest fear is not being prepared so I’ve done a lot of research and homework with the (ICD) program to make sure I’m prepared as much as possible,” Havens said.

“It’s going great. There’s a lot of good people around me.”

Additionally, ICD welcomed Donna Permigiani on October 1. She is in charge of the program at USW/U.S. Steel Mon Valley in Duquesne, Pennsylvania after 18 years in Human Resources Administration. The Pittsburgh native hit the ground running with database training her first week on the job. She also attended the New Member Training in Cleveland October 23-24.

“I’m learning something new every day,” Permigiani said. “The training with ICD (in Cleveland) brought everything together and provided me with a better understanding of the job and the organization.”

Permigiani is no stranger to the steel industry, either. Her father was a steelworker and retired after 37 years from U.S. Steel Irvin Works.

ICD is extremely proud to have added three more incredible people to our team.

Cleveland Rocks.

Especially when the Institute for Career Development is in town.

Twelve Local Career Development Programs recently attended a New Member Training held October 23-24 at USW Local 979 Dave McCall Hall in Cleveland.

“There was so much to absorb in just a couple of days, but I feel so much better about being able to fulfill my role here,” USW/ArcelorMittal Warren Coke ICD coordinator Jason Prater said.

“There was certainly a friendly and open atmosphere that made it an awesome event.”

In all, ICD had Local Joint Committee members or coordinators from USW/BF Goodrich, USW/U.S. Steel, USW/ATI Metals, USW/Goodyear, USW/Liberty Steel and USW/ArcelorMittal at the event.

ICD couldn’t have done it without the hospitality and generosity of the fine folks at the ArcelorMittal Cleveland Plant, especially ICD coordinator Shirley Pasholk and USW Local 979 Vice President Sam Moyer.

The event gave members a chance to network, learn, and trade ideas with fellow ICD leaders.

Donna Permigiani, the new ICD coordinator at USW/U.S. Steel — Mon Valley, just started her new job on October 1 and felt relieved after being a part of the training.

“The ICD team is incredibly knowledgeable and a great resource,” Permigiani said. “I learned so much and it got my mind racing with some ideas for our spring courses.

“It was great to meet some other members and coordinators from other sites and to have those resources.”

You want to go where everyone knows your name.

Minus the Cheers song, but sticking to theme, a lot of old friends and familiar faces came together to celebrate the Open House at the Institute for Career Development headquarters in Merrillville, Indiana on September 25.

The Open House coincided with ICD New Member Training September 26-27 at the USW/U.S. Steel-Gary Works Learning Center.

“We got a lot out of the conference,” said Mike Broda, LJC Co-Chair from USW/ATI Local 7139-05 out of Washington, Pennsylvania. “We always learn something new each time.”

ICD members as far away as Vancouver, Washington, came to the training and enjoyed the food trucks as well as the hospitality at our local sites.

It was a chance to learn, trade ideas, and network with other ICD members.

It was a huge success and something we’re proud of. We can’t wait for our next New Member Training in Cleveland from October 23-24.

If you’re interested, there’s still time to register. For more information, go to

https://www.icdlearning.org/events/new-member-training-cleveland

Kathy Patterson calls herself the poster child for ICD.

“I was on salary at (USW) Goodyear for 11 years in the batch lab and my job got outsourced,” Patterson recalled. “I didn’t finish (college) – I loved my job – but I didn’t have any education to find another position.”

She was fortunate enough to land a position with the USW/Goodyear-Danville Career Development Program in Danville, Virginia and has been preaching its benefits since.

“When I took this job, I pushed tuition assistance like you wouldn’t believe,” Patterson said. “We have had (USW Local 831 workers) come in here and we’ve held hands together, we’ve cried together, we’ve wiped tears together.

“The classes work for you. You can build knowledge, you can build (college) credits – you can build something for yourself.

“It can happen and it can work!”

Patterson and co-Coordinator Gina Fox work hand-in-hand with the Local Joint Committee to make sure the Steelworkers have the best educational opportunities they can offer.

They recently put on an Open House on at the Learning Center in Danville to prove it.

Local 831 brothers and sisters, instructors, and family and friends attended the event with a tour of the facility and classrooms as well as enjoyed homemade barbecue courtesy of LJC member Larry Hook.

“I cannot even begin to tell you how I’ve benefitted from the (CDC) program,” said Donald Crews, a retired Goodyear worker who is now the president of the Local 831 SOAR chapter. “I’ve halfway mastered Excel and one time I made a presentation on a budget pay with QuickBooks, and this lady said, ‘Where did you learn how to do that?’ I told her, ‘It was all because of the CDC program.’ She said, ‘Boy, I wish my company had that.’”

Over the years Crews said he took small engine repair classes, welding, photography, drywall, as well as computer classes. One class he was thrilled to be a part of was the building of a gazebo through the CDC program.

“We built it for a nursing home and I helped deliver it 35 miles away,” Crews said. “We were proud to put it there with the USW sign on it.”

Crews, who worked in skilled trades and maintenance at USW/Goodyear for 37 years, said he’s totally sold on the CDC program.

“I can’t tell you enough of the good things the program has done for so many people,” he said. “It’s an incredible benefit to have.

“These two ladies (Gina and Kathy) really have it going on here in Danville.”

Kewan McCully can’t help but smile. It’s hard not to these days.

The USW Local 1014 member and furnace assistant in the QBOP has a lot to be happy about: his family, his job, and most recently, his college degree.

“I couldn’t have done it without funds from the ICD program,” McCully said. “The funds allowed me to finish college and earn my bachelor’s degree in Organizational Management.”

McCully, who participates through the USW/U.S. Steel-Gary works program, will admit it was far from easy – managing shift work, switching shifts with co-workers, and even using vacation days to earn his Bachelor’s of Science degree from Calumet College of St. Joseph in Whiting, Indiana.

McCully wasn’t your traditional student, either. The 1990 Gary Lew Wallace grad and Army veteran attended Vincennes University from 1994-96, but quickly life changed. He got married to his wife, Zabrina, and started a family. They have two children, Kewan Jr., 21, and Sydney, 15. Kewan and Zabrina just celebrated 18 years of marriage in June.

It was only recently he decided to go back as a non-traditional student – but not without some poking and prodding from Zabrina, among others.

“My wife is working on her Ph. D, so she was really pushing me to do it,” Kewan said. “I’ll admit it, it was tough, especially if you’re on midnights and instead of going home and going to bed after your shift you’re at the library or finishing a paper.

“When you’ve been out of school for a while like me it’s like learning how to write papers all over again – or really doing them the right way.”

McCully still remembers when Charva Jones, the District 7 Sub District 5 Director and ICD LJC co-chair, encouraged him to go to the USW/U.S. Steel-Gary Works Career Development office and inquire about funding for college credits.

“I couldn’t have done it without a lot of people and a ton of support,” McCully said. “My wife and Charva, (USW District 7 Director) Mike Millsap and (ICD coordinator) Debbie Bohling were all a part of it. I’m truly blessed and grateful to my Union and the ICD program.”

McCully will celebrate 11 years at U.S. Steel in September.

“The shifts are tough – but I have no issues with my job,” McCully said. “I think down the road I’d like to work as a union organizer or maybe for a non-profit (company). I’m just glad I listened, took the advice, and used the ICD funds. Without the USW Family and the support of my family, I wouldn’t have accomplished this.”