Kāpiti Mayor K Gurunathan marked the opening of the new ICE training school in Ōtaki by cutting a copper pipe instead of a red ribbon!
ICE FOR ŌTAKI
By offering training in plumbing, gasfitting and drainlaying, Industry Connection for Excellence (ICE) is helping ensure enough apprentices flow into the industry—and this not-for-profit has now opened a second facility for the Wellington region. AUTHOR: MATTHEW LOWE
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ndustry Connection for Excellence (ICE) started in East Tamaki, Auckland, in 2016 and has now expanded its operations to the lower North Island by opening a dedicated training facility in Ōtaki, north of Wellington. ICE—a not-for-profit collaboration between industry stakeholders and Skills— was established by General Manager Garry McKenzie in response to predictions of a shortfall of tradespeople as a construction boom loomed for Auckland. It offers the Level 4 New Zealand Certificate in Plumbing, Gasfitting and Drainlaying, delivering modules that mix theory and practical learning. Its East Tamaki site has five tutors and two administration staff and trains about 30% of plumbing, gasfitting and drainlaying apprentices in the Auckland region. In 2019, it helped train 209 people and that figure
