Finding a hotel room in Washtenaw County might be a bit of a challenge this week, restaurants will be a little more crowded, and toilets will be racing tonight in Ann Arbor. Plumbers, pipefitters, and other members of the United Association are in town for their annual training conference.
This is the 25th straight year the United Association has held their training conference in Washtenaw County. About 2,500 attendees will spend over 11,000 nights in local hotels in the next ten days.
Ann Arbor Area Convention and Visitors Bureau President and CEO Mary Kerr says the connections made through the training conference is only part of the U-A's positive impact, "U-A's year long presence at the Great Lakes Regional Training Center at WashtenawCommunity College creates an additional economic impact, so that 10 day period and five million dollars economic impact is just one part of the picture."
To celebrate the training a block party is being held today that will have Main Street closed from Huron to William. Events include the Big Flush toilet race at 7:30, a 5K run, and a Pub Crawl. They're raising money for the SemperFi Fund; offering assistance to veterans wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Like 89.1 WEMU on Facebook and follow us on Twitter— Andrew Cluley is the Ann Arbor beat reporter, and anchor for 89.1 WEMU News. Contact him at 734.487.3363 or email him acluley@emich.edu.
