{"id":392919,"date":"2026-07-31T02:40:23","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T02:40:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/392919\/"},"modified":"2026-07-31T02:40:23","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T02:40:23","slug":"smart-opens-apprenticeship-training-facility-in-lubbock-texas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/392919\/","title":{"rendered":"SMART Opens Apprenticeship Training Facility In Lubbock, Texas"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SMART_Local_49_JATC_Logo.png\" alt=\"SMART Opens Apprenticeship Training Facility In Lubbock, Texas\"\/>\t<\/p>\n<p>Alana Edgin at The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal reports that once known as the &#8220;best kept secret&#8221; in the\u00a0local Trades, future Sheet Metal Workers now have a place in Lubbock, Texas to learn the craft. Sheet Metal Air Rail Transportation (SMART) Local Union 49 JATC has officially opened their new 9,000-square-foot Training Facility. Members of the Union and attendees cut a ribbon of metal to celebrate after several people spoke on the importance of the facility. \u201cWe were the \u2018best kept secret\u2019 for the longest time,\u201d said Shawn Smith, who serves as Business Representative for Sheet Metal Workers Local 49 and as President of the West Texas Building and Construction Trade Council. \u201cNow, it\u2019s no longer a secret. We want this opportunity to be provided to anybody that&#8217;s interested in the Trade.\u201d The need for Sheet Metal Workers has grown amid the data center boom, though it goes beyond that. Locally, Members work can be seen at local Medical Centers, Texas Tech University and\u00a0at Galaxy Stadium, previously known as Jones AT&amp;T Stadium.<\/p>\n<p>To Directly Access This Apprenticeship And Training Labor News Story In Its Entirety, Go To: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.msn.com\/en-us\/news\/us\/smart-union-opens-apprenticeship-training-facility-in-lubbock\/ar-AA28Y6uX?ocid=BingNewsSerp\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">SMART union opens apprenticeship training facility in Lubbock<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Alana Edgin at The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal reports that once known as the &#8220;best kept secret&#8221; in the\u00a0local Trades,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":392920,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[138286,168,170,169,138287,138288],"class_list":["post-392919","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-lubbock","tag-labor-news","tag-lubbock","tag-lubbock-headlines","tag-lubbock-news","tag-western-new-york","tag-wny"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/392919","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=392919"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/392919\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/392920"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=392919"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=392919"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=392919"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}