Introducing Tim Lievens, New JATC Instructor

It’s Careers in Construction Month, and we're celebrating by highlighting several Local 25 members. Join us in welcoming our newest full-time JATC instructor, Tim Lievens!

Tim began his apprenticeship with Local 25 in 2006 after graduating from Scott Community College HVAC program.

“Like everyone else here, I’m good with my hands, I like to solve problems and I’m good with people. Plus, I make more money doing this than people with master’s degrees,” he said of his decision to pursue a career in the trades.

For 13 years, Tim worked as a commercial HVAC technician at Northwest Mechanical. He taught part-time in the Local 25 JATC for the past 2.5 years before being approached by Training Coordinator Chuck McKnight to join as a full-time HVAC instructor in the summer of 2023.

“You’re always training apprentices on the job anyway, and it naturally translated to the classroom,” Tim said. “What I like about it is when you’re explaining something in the classroom and you can physically see the light bulb in their head going off because now they understand it.”

In August, Tim (along with 11 other Local 25 instructors) attended the United Association’s Instructor Training Program, a 5-year certification program designed to help locals like ours maintain the highest level of quality craftsmanship within the plumbing and pipefitting industry.

“They’re teaching you how to be a better instructor, with new techniques and new ways of doing things,” Tim said. “Technology’s always changing and we learned how to incorporate that into our curriculum — how to teach a generation who’s been raised on iPads and computers.”

When he’s not working, Tim likes to spend time with his wife and three kids. He’s the current president of Davenport Northwest Little League and an avid sports enthusiast.