KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Over the past two years, Sheet Metal (SMART) Local 2 has promoted five of its members into leadership roles including Adam Brandmueller, Jared Borden, Carl Tharp, Joseph Kimmel and Aaron Murray.
With each of these five members starting in their current roles no earlier than 2024, it has led the local to conduct revisions to various programming including adjusting its apprenticeship curriculum, among other aspects.
Adam Brandmueller
Now SMART Local 2’s apprenticeship coordinator, Brandmueller was not always a sheet metal worker. First, going down the collegiate path, upon graduation he went to work for an engineering firm.
However, in search of a career with greater benefits, it was his father-in-law who was a sheet metal worker and acquainted him with the trade.
After applying for the apprenticeship program, it was a year before Brandmueller became an apprentice with SMART Local 2.
“It was a process; I’ve enjoyed it ever since,” Brandmueller said in an interview. “I didn’t know much about the trades before.”
Though he shared that handiness has always come natural to him, which is how he knew he was meant to work in the trades.
After completing his apprenticeship, Brandmueller immersed himself within SMART Local 2, teaching courses part-time — a skill, which he shared he obtained through college coursework — while working as a sheet metal journeyman.
He soon became SMART Local 2’s recording secretary, keeping the union’s business records, and in 2022, Brandmueller took on the role of a full-time apprenticeship training instructor.
When he was promoted to his current position as apprenticeship coordinator in June 2025, he shared that it was his engineering background, which has provided him with the tools to help him succeed in this role.
“Having that background helped, doing [engineering] in college and working for an engineering company — I’m fairly proficient in that,” he said in an interview. “It’s not easy; it was a fun challenge.”
SMART Local 2 wrapped up its spring apprenticeship class at the end of July, and as the Apprentice and Journeyman Training Center (JATC) prepares to welcome an anticipated around 200 apprentices this September, Brandmueller shared that as the apprenticeship coordinator, he has worked with instructors at Local 2’s Training Center in Raytown, Mo., to plan curriculum — not just for apprentice classes — but also training courses for all SMART Local 2 members.
“Our main goal is making sure the training here is up to date and that it stays competitive with real work,” Brandmueller said in an interview. “We want to make sure our members are trained.”
And while the apprenticeship curriculum has not received significant modifications over the past few years, this fall, Brandmueller shared that teachings will focus more closely on sheet metal specialties and career paths including HVAC.
Of the aspects, which he shared that he is most looking forward to in the coming months and the incoming apprenticeship class, is to continue to educate SMART Local 2 members.
“Managing people and all the membership; making sure training for every member from people who have just got in to people who have been in 25 years,” he said in an interview. “We can all learn; we need to make sure we’re helping our membership stay competitive. We try to have membership training all year round.”
Jared Borden
SMART Local 2 Organizer Borden also took an alternative path before joining the local. Serving in the United States Army for nine years, Borden shared that the trades industry was not a post-service career option largely discussed within his military branch.
However, whenever his time of service was nearing completion, he shared that he had a friend who was a sheet metal worker, which is what sparked his interest to apply for SMART Local 2’s apprenticeship program in 2014.
After completing the apprenticeship program, Borden shared that he participated in a multitude of organizing campaigns as a journeyman including extracurricular walks and Right to Work petitions, looking for ways to increase his involvement.
In 2021, Borden became the Warden for SMART Local 2 — serving as a security personnel and enforcing order for the union hall — which led to his appointment onto Local 2’s executive board.
When an organizer position opened up — serving as a counterpart to Jason Harrison — Borden shared it was the positive relationships he had fostered, which gave him the confidence to fill out an application.
Stepping into this role in January 2026, over the past seven months, he shared that one of the elements he enjoys the most is recruitment.
“My favorite part is the ability to organize in new members whenever we have a need for it and be able to see how much their lives have changed because of this opportunity,” Borden said in an interview.
Previously, around four times a year, Borden shared this outreach allowed him to reconnect with his roots at Fort Riley Military Base in Geary County, Kan. — informing troops on post-service opportunities he was not offered himself.
“We went out to Fort Riley and talked to soldiers there at the end of their time of service; we talked to soldiers about getting into the trades,” Borden said. “There was a story about a kid who moved down to Texas, he was in a bad spot and couldn’t get a job; we called down there and said we had a job in Sheet Metal down there. He called up here and he couldn’t say enough about how we changed his life — that was a driving force for me getting into this position.”
Carl Tharp
SMART Local 2 Business Agent and Representative Tharp has worked for the union since he was 28 years old — joining the apprenticeship program as a single dad looking to provide for his daughter.
While he shared he had not worked with sheet metal before becoming a SMART Local 2 apprentice, he did enjoy at-home, hands-on projects including wood working, landscaping and home remodeling as well as working in an automotive body shop.
Though he knew a few people in the sheet metal industry, he shared that he was fairly unfamiliar with the trade and it was his neighbor he had growing up that worked in sheet metal who introduced him to the field.
Upon completing his apprenticeship, along with receiving the benefits he still utilizes today for himself and his family, he quickly developed an appreciation for his craft.
“I loved being able to form up whatever fitting I may have needed out of a flat piece of metal, working with duct work; It was a really great feeling to be able to form anything we needed out of a flat piece of metal,” Tharp said in an interview.
He emphasized the importance of building up a network within the trade. In his seventh year as a journeyman, he was released from his duct shop — leaving him without work for a few months as he did not know many people across the industry.
It was not until his cousin — an IBEW Local 124 electrician — helped him find an open position at a larger duct company, Barnes & Dodge Inc, where he shared he was able to build and expand his network of resources.
Before he was elected as SMART Local 2 Business Representative, Tharp worked for four duct shops over two decades — as well as working on countless projects in and around Kansas City.
For the past two years as business agent/ representative, Tharp’s role has focused on fielding members’ phone calls — assisting with any questions or challenges they may have, helping to negotiate a contract and making political contacts — as well as attending classes, meetings and out of town conferences.
He has also visited job sites to address and mediate any conflicts, which may arise among members or contractors.
“We’re always trying to hold up the contract; the contract is a really big thing, that and recruiting new members,” Tharp said.
Though the aspect of his role, which he shared he finds the most rewarding, is helping SMART Local 2 members build connections and offer job opportunities across the industry.
“Helping members and finding a place for them to go is always a good feeling; over the last several years as a journeyman, a foreman and a superintendent, it’s always been a good feeling to help members who are out of work,” Tharp said. “Helping the members is why I chose to run for this position. I can’t say I’ve always been able to pull it off, but whether a buddy, or someone I may or may not know is able to get back to work — well it’s not a selfless feeling.”
Joseph (Joey) Kimmel
SMART Local 2’s HVAC Apprenticeship Instructor, Kimmel joined Local 2’s apprenticeship program himself in 2013.
Previously working as a valet, parking cars for a casino, Kimmel had an interview to work for the railroad industry, which he cancelled upon his acceptance into SMART Local 2.
After becoming a journeyman, Kimmel shared that he went to work for a service truck company and, similar to his coworkers, looked for ways to increase his engagement.
This led him to teach night courses through SMART Local 2’s JATC, where he familiarized himself with the International Training Institute (ITI) — sponsored by SMART, among other sheet metal organizations, ITI works to assist with apprenticeship training for sheet metal workers across the U.S. and Canada, according to its website.
For the past year, Kimmel has served as an apprentice instructor for SMART Local 2, with an emphasis on HVAC and service.
And while he shared that his first few months in this role did not come easy, he has appreciated working with students and has viewed the position as a rewarding challenge.
“I’m proud of just getting up and standing in front of students; public speaking is a huge fear [of mine],” Kimmel said in an interview. “Getting up and saying here’s the math you learned 10 years ago; [I’ve enjoyed] learning about the students and socializing after working by myself for so long.”
As an instructor, Kimmel shared an area he hopes to provide support in is bridging a connection between the HVAC and service fields.
“Everyone got HVAC in school — if you got assigned to HVAC, it’s fairly rare to get into service,” he said. “Hopefully I can help with that.”
Kimmel will have around 80 total apprentices who will start in September, though he shared he will teach 8 to 12 students at a time on an alternating schedule.
As Brandmueller has worked to restructure the training curriculum, a few elements of Kimmel’s program will look different for the incoming class, which Kimmel shared he is eager to delve into.
“Everything about the service part I’m looking forward to; it wasn’t part of the curriculum last year,” he said. “The mechanical part wasn’t part of it last year and will be a focus [this year].”
While Kimmel shared he will spend the remainder of the month preparing classes for these new curriculum additions, it is his fellow SMART Local 2 instructors and his educators from his time as an apprentice, who helped him gain his footing.
“Pat (Hughey) was a teacher when I was [an apprentice] about 12 years ago — I get along with him pretty well; Adam [Brandmueller], Sydney [Bunch] and the other instructors have been so kind and welcoming to me; I’ve felt so lucky at every point in my career between pre-apprentice and now,” he said. “I hope someday I end up working with one of my students by the time I retire; I want to give credit to a significant mentor I had for service work, Eric Goodwin. He taught me nearly everything I know.”
Julia Williams — a Kansas City native — is a reporter and digital producer for The Labor Beacon. A University of Missouri School of Journalism alumna, she previously served as the editor-in-chief of The Northeast News before joining The Labor Beacon staff.
Williams’s grandfather was a Claycomo Ford Motor Company retiree and avid UAW Local 249 supporter, allowing her to understand the union difference from a young age.
In her free time, Williams enjoys spending time with her family, traveling to see her friends and hanging out at home with her cat, Greta. She loves a good cup of coffee, seeing local, live music and shopping secondhand. With a passion for storytelling, she hopes to bring her knowledge of journalistic integrity to the Kansas City union community — giving union and labor workers a voice, while holding people in powerful positions accountable.
