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ñnton Ruesing is the Director of the Florida Finishing Trades Institute (FTI). a protective coatings job training program partnered with the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (JUPAT). Ruesing lias been with the Florida FTI for ten years,and has held his current position for six years. He is responsible for training around 1.000 apprentices and journeymen and overseeing the day-to-day operations at the FTFs seven training centers throughout the state. His duties include reviewing program curriculum; ensuring compliance with the U.S. Department of Education, Department of Labor, and local city and county regulations; and managing the programs seven full-time and 70 part-time instructors.
JPCL: How did you get your start in the protective coalings industry?
AR: I started painting in St.Louis, MO, when I got out of the Marine Corps. I needed a job during the day that paid well, so that 1 could go to college in the evening. A friend of mine from high school suggested I talk to his father, who was one of the owners of Ackerman Painting. A few days later, dressed in crisp new whites, I showed up on my first job. T had no idea, then, that after college and a two-year hiatus working in IT. I would return to the industry and turn what started out as just a job into not only a career, but my passion.
IPCL: What makes the Florida coatings market unique from other areas of the country? What are some of the special considerations one might have to lake to accomplish a successful coalings project in Florida?
AR: Florida presents a lot of unique challenges to coalings. The east coast of Florida, or the "Space Coast," as it is affectionately called, is one of the most corrosive environments in the world-so much so that in the 1960s, NASA actually set up a Corrosion Research Laboratory at Kennedy Space Center. Florida also has very high humidity, one of the highest average precipitation levels in the country,a six-month hurricane season, tornadoes, and is known as the lightning capital of the U.S..SQ while Florida's nickname is."The Sunshine State" the sun is not always shining. Most of Florida is a severe environment when it...