McKinstry Hosts Vice President Harris on Inflation Reduction Act Anniversary

McKinstry was chosen as an exemplar of how the IRA is accelerating our zero-carbon future and advancing workforce development nationwide

The White House selected McKinstry to host Vice President Kamala Harris on the one-year anniversary of the landmark Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). McKinstry was chosen as an exemplar of how the IRA is accelerating our zero-carbon future and advancing workforce development nationwide.

Vice President Harris was joined by Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, Senator Maria Cantwell, Washington Governor Jay Inslee and Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell.

In opening remarks, McKinstry CEO Dean Allen shared “At McKinstry, we’re challenging the status quo, and creating new models and approaches to decarbonize the economy to ensure that that we are achieving both scale and acceleration.” He went on to thank Vice President Harris and Secretary Granholm for their leadership in passing the IRA and reminded everyone that the journey has just begun.

McKinstry service technician Cameron Bowers, a second-year apprentice with local UA 32, shared her career story. She described growing up “as her dad’s shadow,” tagging along as he worked on car and home improvement projects and attended HVAC technician training, and how she made a hard pivot from nursing school to reconnect with her passion for technical, hands-on work; “My work is rewarding every day because I get the opportunity to work with such skilled technicians out in the field that offer nothing but support and want to see you succeed.”

Introducing Vice President Harris to the stage, Cameron said “When I think about the reason for this celebration — the IRA legislation, I’m grateful for investments like this and to know there’s money and resources going into making our buildings safer, healthier and more energy efficient.”

Vice President Harris spoke of the good paying union job creation that the IRA investments help fuel — jobs for “the kind of folk who are some of the most skilled and experienced workers in our nation, going to work every day to build our clean energy economy.” She called out Ambrose Bradley, a McKinstry sheet metal foreman.

“Ambrose grew up in Oklahoma and after high school he joined the Air Force and worked as a mechanic on an F16 fighter jet . . . and today Ambrose is a foreman fabricating metal for energy-efficient lighting, heating systems and solar panels . . . talk about highly skilled; together we are building a clean energy economy,” she shared.

After her remarks, Vice President Harris and Senator Cantwell toured McKinstry’s Seattle fabrication shop with CEO Dean Allen.

During the tour Dean described to VP Harris how McKinstry’s more than 300,000 square feet of manufacturing space across Washington and Oregon, and the more than 200 craftspeople who work there are core enablers of our business. Ambrose, whose work Harris had celebrated in her speech, shared with her insights about the safety and quality benefits of our move to prefabrication.

Picking up on that theme, Shannon Moore, a sheet metal worker, was there to reinforce how innovative practices such as prefabrication and integrated multi-trade assemblies enable more climate-friendly built environments. Isabella Verdugo, engineer and IRA strategy manager, explained how McKinstry formed an IRA strategy team to be the experts our clients need to fully optimize their buildings using this legislation.

As a final stop on the tour, Vice President Harris met students from our Heavy Metal Summer Experience program, A’Xavier Williams and Subeg Dhillon, as Dean explained the critical importance of connecting students with skilled trades to help build the workforce of the future. As a result of their experience in the program, both A’Xavier and Subeg are now pursuing careers in the sheet metal and plumbing trades.

“All that we do at McKinstry requires collaboration,” expressed Dean. “If we are going to accelerate and scale removing the climate waste and harm out of the built environment, we’re going to have to do it together. Together is an important word at McKinstry.” 

To learn more about the IRA, please visit our IRA blog or contact us below.

Financial Disclaimer: McKinstry is not engaged in providing legal, tax or financial advice. The information provided herein is intended only to assist you in your decision-making and is broad in scope. Accordingly, before making any final decisions you should consider obtaining additional information and advice from your accountant or other financial advisers who are fully aware of your specific circumstances.

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