Bradley "Brad" Thies will tell you straight up that he was not the most focused student to ever walk the halls at Trico. He showed up, he did the work, and he leaned into the classes that made sense to him, mainly construction and ag mechanics, the hands-on stuff that suited the way his mind worked. What he did not know back then was that those instincts would lead him somewhere pretty remarkable.

Thies graduated from Trico in 2003. After high school, he enrolled at John A. Logan College, initially with an eye toward becoming a game warden. That path did not quite take shape, so he changed direction and completed a heating and air conditioning program, finishing in December of 2007. He worked at Best Buy in Carbondale while going to school, keeping himself busy and building the kind of steady work habits that would serve him well in the years ahead.

In January of 2008, he joined UA Local 160, the Plumbers and Pipefitters Union based in Murphysboro, Illinois. He enrolled in a five-year apprenticeship and completed it in December 2012. From there, he spent several years working in the field for various contractors, logging long days and sometimes long drives to job sites across the region. It was demanding work, but it gave him a thorough education in the trade.

Even while working in the field, Thies had started teaching, leading classes in welding, pipe bending, and pipe layout for the union's training program. When the previous training coordinator moved into the role of business manager in 2019, he tapped Thies for the job. Brad talked it over with his wife, Brittany, weighed the demands it would place on family life, and said yes. He has been the Training Coordinator for UA Local 160 ever since.

The role is a busy one. Thies currently manages 43 apprentices, schedules all training classes, tracks new technology coming into the industry, administers welding certifications, and handles continuing education for journeymen across the local. He earned his Certified Welding Inspector credential back in 2017, which allows him to administer a range of welding and piping tests. He still teaches one night a week. "I do a little bit of everything, really," he said. One benefit he does not take for granted is that the work now keeps him close to home, a welcome change after years of driving to a job site.

Thies is also deeply woven into the Trico community in ways that go beyond his own graduation. His wife, Brittany, a Carterville graduate, currently works as a teacher's aide in the Trico junior high and is finishing her degree so she can teach junior high math. Their four children are all in the Trico school system, in first, third, seventh, and eighth grades. He has noticed that some of the teachers his kids have now are the same ones he had growing up, and those teachers already know his children by name. "Everybody kind of looks out for everyone," he said. "To me, that's a good thing."

When it comes to the trades, Thies has a message he shares with every new apprentice who walks through the door. "You get out of the trades what you put in," he said. "If you're willing to put in the work, go the extra mile, and learn as much as you possibly can, you can do a lot of things. But you have to have a work ethic and common sense." The two qualities he comes back to most, though, are simpler than that. "Be humble and be teachable. Those are the two biggest things I can tell people."

For a kid who once gravitated toward the ag shop and the construction classroom because that was where things made sense, Brad Thies has built a career out of helping others find that same footing. Not a bad path for someone who just showed up and did the work.