Built to Last® Television

Built To Last TV logo

BUILT TO LAST is an informative series of half hour specials exploring the skill, training and artistry of trade union members and contractors. The series, a Nexstar Television partnership, is currently shooting its 8th Season, which highlighted the projects they’ve worked on and the people whose lives they have touched. Built To Last is hosted by television personalities Monica Pedersen, Mark Nilsson, and has been nominated for multiple Emmys for “Outstanding Achievement for Magazine Programming.”

Starting with the name itself Built to Last® means enduring quality, and spotlights how skilled labor sets the benchmark for performance training, safety best practices and industry leading productivity, making it the smart choice for creating partnerships. Built To Last will again captivate audiences as it moves across large scale projects and fascinating individuals that collectively exemplify the real-world contributions that organized labor makes toward our communities. The show will also strive to showcase public and private economic developments and partnerships, and a dedication to the building industry.

Built to Last® is a product of the Mid-America Carpenters Regional Councils’ Labor and Management Committee.

“Built to Last® is a success because of the trades and the people involved, their dedication to a skilled labor workforce and the proficiency in a wealth of crafts, the seamless collaboration between union members and union contractors and enticing stories with fascinating people that elicit emotions ranging from compassion and inspiration to intrigue and exultation.”

– Gary Perinar, Executive Secretary–Treasurer, Mid-America Carpenters Regional Council

Built to Last® 3rd Consecutive Emmy Nomination!

Congratulations to Built To Last for its third consecutive Emmy nomination! Built to Last was nominated in the Outstanding Achievement for Magazine Programming – Program/Special/ Series category for Foundation of the Nation. View episode below.

Built to Last looks at the economic impact skilled Union Labor has on our communities’ development. Congratulations!


HISTORY: Carpenters, ABC Television Launch Built to Last®

Built to Last®—a product of the Mid-America Carpenters Regional Council’s Labor and Management Committee. After three successful seasons with Lakeshore Public Television, production of season four is being handled by ABC. Plans for the weekly show included weekend airings across ABC 7 WLS Chicago and ABC 13 KTNV Las Vegas.

Starting with the name itself “built to last” means enduring quality, and season four will highlight how skilled labor is the pinnacle for safety and performance, and how it sets the benchmark for training and productivity and is the smart choice of professional contractors. Season four will move across projects, helping to demonstrate the contributions that organized labor makes toward our communities while showcasing public and private economic developments and partnerships, and a dedication to the building industry.

“Built to Last® Television has helped showcase how industry professionals deftly collaborate to design, create and execute on projects that matter to people within the communities where we live and work,” said former Executive Secretary-Treasurer and President Frank T. Libby of then Chicago Regional Council of Carpenters – A positive force in building communities®. “It has been an educational vehicle for the building and business communities promoting economic infrastructure projects.”


Built to Last® Season 3 Comes to ABC/WLS-TV7 Chicago

ABC7/WLS-TV Chicago will serve as the home for Built to Last® Television, Season 3, beginning Sat., June 11, at 4:30 p.m.!

Join the production crew as it visits fascinating job sites and manufacturing facilities across the Chicago area. Meet with the best and brightest in the world of green, sustainable construction who are training and building for now and the future!

The full 12-episode schedule is as follows:

  • Saturdays 4:30-5:00 p.m.: 6/11, 6/18, 7/2, 7/23, 7/30, 8/6, 8/13, 8/20
  • Sunday, 6/26: 11:30 a.m-12:00 p.m.
  • Sunday, 7/10: 12:00-12:30 p.m.

Built to Last® is a product of the Mid-America Carpenters Regional Council’s Labor and Management Committee.


Built to Last®, Season 3, Premieres March 26, 2016, on Lakeshore Public Television

The third season of Built to Last®—a product of the Mid-America Carpenters Regional Council’s Labor and Management Committee—showcased the newest building practices that use energy-efficient methods and materials in residential and commercial construction. Show host and architect Bruce Obora invited industry experts to discuss and often demonstrate a specific technology, technique or trend relating to the topic at hand. Each episode featured a skills segment that highlighted a trade-skill area that works in concert with sustainable building strategies in each phase of construction to reduce waste and ensure the highest quality throughout the lifetime of every project. Watch the trailer below!

Built to Last® Television has always been about showcasing how construction professionals create the homes and business contexts in which we live and work. Whether with Season 1, in which we spotlighted the carpentry trade and its depth and breadth of crafts, or with Season 2 where we detailed the building of “The Green Home” from the ground up, Built to Last® has been an educational vehicle for sustainable construction, product innovations, energy-efficient techniques and skilled craftsmanship. Season 3 delivered 12 new episodes intended to inform, educate, entertain and inspire!

BuiltToLastTV.com complements the TV programming, serving as the hub for additional insight, features and information relating to the show. Interested in advertising on BuiltToLastTV.com? Contact Shawn Longson, Benjamin Ryan Productions: 630-358-9817.

Lakeshore Public Television broadcasts to 3.5 million homes throughout Northwest Indiana, Chicago, and its surrounding suburbs.


Built to Last® TV, Regional Council Gain UBC Exposure

Our carpentry trade and crafts, the skill of our members, our professional union contractors, sustainable construction, and project design and productivity continue to receive positive exposure through the educating, informative and entertaining TV show Built to Last®. Here, the show – a product of the Mid-America Carpenters Regional Council’s Labor and Management Committee – and our Regional Council are the topics of interest in this article within the United Brotherhood of Carpenters’ latest magazine.

UBC skills

Built to Last® Season Two – The Green Home

The green home

Looking to leverage the inaugural success of Built to Last® and its role as a driver of green construction industry growth, season two—Built to Last® – The Green Home—hit the airwaves Jan. 25, 2014, on Lakeshore Public Television and nationally in more than 50 geographic markets including the U.S. Virgin Islands. Backed by the Mid-America Carpenters Regional Council’s Labor and Management Committee, season two showcased the construction of a green home in Lemont, Illinois, that was designed and built to incorporate energy-efficient practices, environmentally friendly materials and cost-saving, innovative products.


Season One – Built to Last®

Built to Last® kicked off its inaugural season with Episode One—Building Now and Building to Last—on Jan. 5, 2010. Episode Two—Foundations; Episode Three—Framing; Episode Four—Roofing; Episode Five—Windows & Doors; Episode Six—Exterior Finishes; Episode Seven—The Building Envelope; Episode Eight—Interior Surfaces; Episode Nine-Cabinets and Countertops; Episode 10—Roofing; Episode 11—Today & Tomorrow; Episode 12—Large Scale Construction; and Episode 13—Millwrights followed thereafter.

The inaugural season detailed what goes into professional-quality construction projects. The show featured residential and commercial construction projects built from the ground up, highlighting what it takes to execute those projects using skill, expertise and the latest technology. Built to Last® is a product of the Mid-America Carpenters Regional Council’s Labor and Management Committee.

Lakeshore Public Television – Serving as the outlet for this quality program is Lakeshore Public Television, whose goal is to educate, enlighten and inform. Lakeshore Public Television’s mission is to bring quality PBS television and original programming to viewers in the lakeshore region of Northwest Indiana and Chicagoland.

Lakeshore PTV can be viewed over the air and on satellite through DirecTV and Dish Network on Channel 56, on cable channel 17 in most Northwest Indiana communities, and on Channels 17 and 21 in Chicago and its suburbs.

Union Health & Retirement Benefits Apprentice & Training Programs Political Action Built to Last Television Union Merch