Numurkah Leader
Dale Cox named apprentice of the year
1 min read

FOR Numurkah’s Dale Cox , getting the chance to learn from skilled tradesmen, and get paid for it, is reward enough.

However, his dedication to his craft was given formal recognition last week when he was awarded the title of third year building apprentice of the year for the north east region.

When the Leader caught up with Dale last Thursday, the morning after the awards ceremony,  he was still in shock.

“It’s a bit surreal to be honest. I really didn’t expect to win,” he said.

For Glenn Rikys, Dale’s boss at Rikys and Moylan Builders, Dale was an obvious winner.

“You could tell from the get-go that he was going to be a good builder,” Glenn said.

“From the very start of his apprenticeship he has been astute and conscientious.

“Some apprentices are good at trade school or good on the job, but Dale is all over everything. And he’s a nice guy with it.”

Dale, who is now in the fourth and final year of his apprenticeship, said although the other guys were ribbing him a bit in light of the win, it was all part of the job - and well worth it to receive the prize of more than $2,000 worth of tools.

The ultimate prize, though, is job satisfaction.

“I love the variety of it - no two days or jobs are the same and that keeps it interesting,” he said.

“I also like that you walk up to a new job - a build or a renovation - and you do your work and then you get to see the finished product.

“You’re creating something new and that’s really satisfying.”