ON THE LEVEL: For Cannizzaro, board position at ABC national a new challenge

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Jessica “Jessie” Cannizzaro previously held post as chair the board of directors at the Associated Builders and Contractors of Wisconsin, but now she’s taking the national stage after being elected Midwest region vice chair of the ABC National Board of Directors.

The master plumber and owner of Wauwatosa-based Milestone Plumbing has long been an advocate of the trades, making visits to various schools to help pique an interest among younger Wisconsinites. She’s also worked with the state’s Department of Workforce Development to promote youth apprenticeship programs.

In addition to graduating ABC-WI’s apprenticeship program, Cannizzaro, 42, also earned a bachelor and a masters degree of business administration at UW-Milwaukee.

The Daily Reporter: Why don’t you tell me a little bit about what it means to you to be put in this new position?

Cannizzaro: I’m super excited about it. It’s definitely a new challenge. There’s going to be a lot to learn. I’ve spent most of my career focused on just the Wisconsin area, and apprenticeships here and trade advocacy efforts, and learned our rules and regulations, in terms of the apprenticeships, here. I’m not an expert in all trades, but know enough about HVAC and electrical that I’ve been able to be active on multiple different committees, both at the state level, with our ABC Wisconsin chapter, and then also just at the local levels. And so it’s a new opportunity that there’s going to be a learning curve. We don’t do things in Wisconsin the way that the rest of the country does… I’ve loved advocating for skilled trades. I have a bit of a unique background in that I’ve gone to college, have degrees, but I’ve also served in apprenticeship. So, I can look at both sides and speak about it from personal experience. And my dream is just that we’re going to continue to create those opportunities for people across different ages, different demographics.

TDR: Do you have anything planned as of now for what you’re going to do with your time on the board?

Cannizzaro: I’m still learning about what committees I’m going to be on. And I am excited that our ABC national chair has allowed me to still continue efforts in health and safety. I’ve been extremely active here in Wisconsin on the local level with the suicide prevention and mental health training, so that committee will allow me to have a voice regionally and nationally, to continue advocating for better programs, better awareness, to have an impact on saving lives. We’ve been working hard here within the state on suicide prevention training and mental health and ways to potentially integrate that into our statewide apprenticeship program. And now, the ability to do that, even on a bigger scale, to hopefully save as many lives as possible, is truly a gift.

TDR: Are there any other committees you’re eyeing up to get onto?

Cannizzaro: I will be on the National Center for Construction Education and Research committee, which I have not been super active with in the past. I knew that ABC national had one. [Recently-elected Chair Thomas] Murphy has assigned me to that committee because he thinks it’ll be something that I’ll have a very positive impact with. So, I’m looking forward to learning about the things that they’ve been working on and the efforts that I’ll be able to help.

TDR: So what do you think Wisconsin brings to the table on the national stage?

Cannizzaro: I have been working the last few years now with [DWD Bureau of Apprenticeship Standards] Director David Polk, and his Deputy Director Liz Pusch. Our youth apprenticeship program is incredible, and it is a model that I think can have a national impact with getting more opportunities at a much younger point in someone’s career, and having that credit that can go towards registered apprenticeships. Some states don’t have youth apprenticeship programs. And we’ve talked about this with the Apprenticeship Council, and I’ve had these conversations with both David and Liz, I would love to see Wisconsin’s model become what everyone nationally is looking to implement within every single state.

TDR: What do you think Wisconsin can learn from the rest of the country?

Cannizzaro: Tool theft rings are a huge problem, and our team has been hit on several occasions over the last couple of years. A lot of contractors continue to deal with the break-ins, the cost from the break-ins, but often what’s not talked about is the safety concern for the workers of those vehicles. And I think that we need a better means to deter tool thefts from occurring; to keep those workers safer. We’ve done some things in-house here to try to deter people from wanting to break into our trucks, but I’m still hearing from other contractors that this is happening on a regular basis, and I would like to see that change before somebody gets hurt.