In a landmark announcement this week, Midtown Chimney Sweeps, under the visionary leadership of founder Byron Schramm, becomes the first unionized chimney and fireplace installation company in the United States. This historic step, unveiled on September 25, 2025, partners Midtown Chimney Sweeps with the Sheet Metal Workers’ Local No. 9 in Denver, Colorado, and the Sheet Metal Workers Apprenticeship and Training Institute, marking a transformative era for hearth professionals. Drawing direct inspiration from Germany’s storied Chimney Sweep Union—consulted extensively during Schramm’s groundbreaking research—the move elevates worker training, safety, and standards to unprecedented levels.
Where have all the Journeyman and Apprentices Gone?
Where have all the journeymen and apprentices gone from the hearth and fireplace industry? Interestingly, they never existed, until now. In a ground-breaking move, Byron Schramm has forged a new alliance with the Sheetmetal Workers union to define pay, work hours, schooling requirements, field hours, classroom hours, and management methods using the union model, but applied to the chimney sweeping and fireplace installation industry.
Enough is Enough: 3,000 structure Fires per year from the chimney industry is excessive and preventable
3,000 preventable structure fires per year is unnecssary and preventable according to Byron Schramm. While the data is hard to dig for, this is Byron’s assessment of the annual number of structure fires originating from only home heating equipment labeled as a fireplace or wood stove. This annual number remains largely unchanged in a decade. Byron has watched the National Fire Protection Association annual fire statistics for years. The numbers are staggering, and nearly unchanging in a decade- improper clearance to combustiles and lack of annual sweeping tops the list for why American structures catch on fire. And the overall number is preventable if trained technicians are available to sweep chimneys, and to properly install fireplaces. If the technicians are not available, how can the work be done properly? Enough is a enough, Byron has set out to build an infrastructure that will last for 100 years, training installers to train installers, training sweeps to train sweeps. “This could have been explored a decade ago by our industry leaders,” says Byron, “therefore it is left to us, who must build our own platform, to solve the problem.”
The making of a Chimney Cleaning and fireplace installation system
Byron, a third-generation hearth artisan born in Lancaster, California, embodies the grit of family trades—construction, farming, and chimney work—spanning five generations. Initially charting a path in biology and mathematics at The Master’s University, with veterinary dreams, Schramm pivoted at 23 to the family legacy. Licensed as a general contractor and sailplane pilot, he professionalized his parents’ 1979-founded sweeping business, sweeping his 4,000th chimney by his mid-30s. Launching Midtown Chimney Sweeps Franchising in 2014, he revolutionized the $2.1 billion U.S. market with tech-driven systems, NFI-certified installations for brands like Napoleon and Regency, and a franchise network spanning 15 states. Yet, Schramm’s true legacy lies in workforce development, addressing a retiring demographic (over 50% of sweeps aged 60+) and a glaring void in skilled labor.
Central to this mission is Chimney University, Schramm’s innovative online and hands-on academy. The platform blends simulations with rigorous curricula, including CHIM Certification—Chimney & Hearth Inspection Mastery, co-authored by Schramm—for diagnostics, pellet stove maintenance, and CO risk mitigation.
Observing Unionization of Chimney Sweeps in Distant Europe
Schramm’s epiphany crystallized during a seven-month 2024 sabbatical across Central Europe—Austria, Germany, France, Switzerland, and the UK—immersed in guild-run academies. “The U.S. labor market drastically lacks the quality of field work I witnessed,” he reflects, citing Germany’s mandatory annual inspections and guild-backed tool cooperatives. In Ulm, he observed apprentices mastering stiff flex-rods under master sweeps, and dedicacation to the chimney trade- a rigor absent stateside. Collaborating with Germany’s Chimney Sweep Union, Schramm rode with sweeps in 3 different countries, chronicling it in his companies Youtube channel, and crediting European models for inspiring Local No. 9’s integration. Most notably is Hans Von Milnath, the first licensed chimney sweep in 1512. Chimney sweeping and fireplace repairs are not a new business model.
Sheet Metal Workers’ Local No. 9 in Denver- now joining with Midtown Chimney Sweeps
Through Local No. 9—the Sheet Metal Workers’ Local No. 9 in Denver—and the affiliated Apprenticeship and Training Institute, Schramm now channels this vision into unionized pathways. Technicians gain journeyman credentials, competitive wages, and benefits, with Midtown’s Denver flagship as the proving ground. “This partnership protects our neighbors’ lives, families, and homes,” Schramm declares, echoing his ethos and company mission statement. As Midtown potentially expands union chapters nationwide, Schramm will donate his intellectual property of Chimney University, turning it into a union-backed powerhouse, training the next generation in ethical, innovative hearth care. His journey—from family farm to global innovator—ignites a safer, union-strong future, where every sweep may be invited into this 500 year old trade.
