West MI Plumbers Fitters & Service Trades Local 174 Health & Benefits Plan

West MI Plumbers Fitters & Service Trades Local 174 Health & Benefits Plan

The West MI Plumbers Fitters & Service Trades Local 174 Health & Benefits Plan operates as a defined-benefit plan for members of UA Local 174, a union deeply embedded in West Michigan's mechanical contracting industry. Ryan Bennett, the Business Manager, oversees the plan alongside other trustees, ensuring that retirement and health-care obligations are met for a workforce trained at the union's Coopersville, Michigan, facility. The plan is a direct outgrowth of a century-old trade local that covers Kent, Muskegon, Ottawa, and nine other counties, serving as the financial backbone for members who maintain critical infrastructure from hospitals to power plants. The plan's investment strategy is focused on meeting long-term defined-benefit liabilities through a conservative, liability-driven approach typical of multi-employer pension funds. While specific allocations are not publicly disclosed, such plans commonly invest across fixed income, public equities, and real assets. The fund is closely tied to the operations of UA Local 174, which partners with regional mechanical contractors to dispatch labor for projects ranging from manufacturing facilities to residential systems. This operational integration means the plan's health is directly linked to construction cycles in West Michigan. Managed from the union's headquarters at 1008 O'Malley Drive, the plan operates without a separate investment office — trustee oversight is provided by union leadership including Ryan Bennett and Cary Stamas. The organization is affiliated with the United Association (UA) internationally and the Michigan Building and Construction Trades Council locally, though the plan functions independently for its beneficiaries. The union also manages a training center on the same campus, coordinated by Chris Phillips, which feeds the skilled labor pool whose dues and hours fund the plan's assets. No recent operational events specific to the plan's investment posture were publicly verifiable within the last 24 months. The plan's structural differentiator is its direct link to a single local union's active membership base. Unlike large state-wide or corporate pension systems, this fund's asset pool and benefit obligations fluctuate with the dispatch hours of plumbers and pipefitters working on West Michigan job sites. Liability management is not abstract — it reflects the actual health-care usage and retirement timelines of a known group of tradespeople, making the plan's time horizon and liquidity needs highly specific to this labor market.