Julie Scott introduced Jim Sampson, who was no stranger to most in the room since he was formerly our borough mayor, state commissioner of labor, and statewide AFL-CIO president.
 
Julie Scott introduced Jim Sampson, who was no stranger to most in the room since he was formerly our borough mayor, state commissioner of labor, and statewide AFL-CIO president.
Jim is now the director of the Fairbanks Pipeline Training Center Trust. This is a non-profit educational organization formed to operate and maintain the Fairbanks Pipeline Training Center. As mandated in the federal Alaska Pipeline Act.
We watched a movie of how the center is helping the trades learn to mesh their talents to build a pipeline. A 52-acre field training site is located near the Tanana River. A separate "campus" at Peger Road and Van Horn features classroom space and equipment shops. Labor groups, contractors, oil companies, equipment suppliers, Tanana Valley Campus and the Alaska Works Partnership are all working cooperatively on this endeavor. As to what pipeline will be built with these trained workers, or when it will be built, no one knows. But when workers are needed to fill pipeline construction jobs, this program will help assure that Alaskans are trained and ready.