Building a Future Workforce

CEFGA and other Southeast groups working to deliver workers

By Debra Wood

From high-school and community college programs to apprenticeships, Southeast construction organizations and other groups are working to fill the void in skilled tradespeople.

advertisement

One of the most unique efforts in the region and the nation is the Construction Education Foundation of Georgia in Suwanee, Ga.

The group was recently honored by the Construction Users Roundtable, an association of leading corporations in the United States and Canada dedicated to the promotion of cost-effective construction methods. CURT recognized CEFGA in November when it presented the group with one of its five Workforce Development Awards for 2007.

“There are two sides to the labor shortage issue apprenticeship training and getting more young people interested in our business,” says Scott Shelar, CEFGA executive director in Suwanee. “Our focus is on getting more young people into the business and filling that pipeline with young talent.”

About 25,000 Georgia high-school students are enrolled in 180 CEFGA construction programs and 100 pre-engineering/design programs, Shelar says. The students study the National Center for Construction Education and Research curriculum. CEFGA offers high-school courses in seven primary trades carpentry, electrical, masonry, plumbing, heating and air conditioning, sheet metal and welding.

Last year, 2,216 of the graduating students pursued a career in the construction industry.

Young people completing the programs and passing written and performance tests receive certification in their trade. Last year, CEFGA issued 7,000 of the credentials.

Students also can take the Occupational Safety & Health Administration 10-hour course. About 300 students completed the course last year, after CEFGA started offering the sessions.

“Our goal is to issue a card to every student in the program,” Shelar says. “That puts them a step ahead of other people wanting to get into the construction industry because it’s a widely recognized credential.”

CEFGA sponsors an annual CareerExpo for high-school students and 14 SkillsUSA Championship construction contests in which they can compete. Shelar expects nearly 5,000 students to attend the 2008 combined events April 24-25 in Lawrenceville, Ga. At the expo, construction firms present skill workshops and allow students to participate.

SkillsUSA, a national nonprofit organization, serves teachers and high-school and college students preparing for careers in trade, technical and skilled service occupations. It conducts skill-related contests where students complete to build small structures. CEFGA designs the projects, pays for materials and secures judges. It also funds the winning students’ travel expenses to the national championship.

“We see it as a good investment in our future workforce,” Shelar says.

Donna Moreno, a full-time placement coordinator at CEFGA, coordinates the organization’s summer intern program, placing students with member companies for eight-week-or-longer paid internships between their junior and senior years or after graduation. Each company must provide an in-house or association-related training program.

“We don’t like to send them where they are just going to have a job and not have an opportunity to better themselves and have further training,” says Shelar, who expects to place about 75 students in an internship next year. 

Associated Builders and Contractors of Georgia began the workforce development organization in 1993. In 1998, CEFGA became independent, and the Georgia Branch of Associated General Contractors joined.

“They are competing organizations, but on this issue of attracting young people into our industry and addressing the labor shortage, they said, ‘Let’s not fight each other; let’s pool our resources and work together,’” Shelar says. “The results have been remarkable.”

Mike Dunham, executive vice president of the Georgia Branch of AGC, says the impact has been significant.

“CEFGA, for the first time, has unified the construction industry with a message that (construction) has a career opportunity for young men and women,” Dunham adds. “It’s brought together the Department of Education, which represents our K-12 schools, and our vocational school system to understand the roles that they both play.

“The fragmentation of the construction industry kept us from ever getting on the same page. This is a platform to do that.”

Still, Dunham admits: “We’re a long ways from a fix. But if we stay the course, work the plan and get the industry participants behind the operation, we’ll make headway.”

Bill Anderson, president of ABC of Georgia, adds: “CEFGA’s efforts are important to ABC members and Georgia’s construction industry because the shortage of skilled workers is a key challenge for the industry, especially in the Southeast where there are not enough available workers. CEFGA is doing an excellent job in educating high school and technical college students who may not otherwise consider construction as a viable career path.”

AGC and ABC continue to support CEFGA, each awarding annual grants of $20,000. Other commercial and residential construction-related associations, unions and corporations also sponsor the workforce development organization. Money from industry funds 80% of CEFGA’s budget, and the remaining 20% from the Georgia Department of Education.

“The common bond is they all need more people,” Shelar says. “We’ve been able to pool resources.”

CEFGA works with its supporters in channeling students into existing apprenticeship programs offered by associations, unions or corporations, such as site developer C.A. Murren’s three- to four-year program to train heavy-equipment operators. 

Carolinas and the community colleges

While CEFGA may have received national accolades, other groups around the Southeast are doing their part to help deliver tomorrow’s needed workers.

Carolinas AGC of Charlotte, N.C., approaches workforce development at the community college level. Accredited by the NCCER, Carolinas AGC offers electrical, carpentry and mechanical trade training. About 400 community college students in North Carolina and vocational school students in South Carolina take the programs each year.

“We try to focus on kids really interested and nurture them,” says Steve Gennett, Carolinas AGC president and CEO.

The organization is setting up training alliances in major metropolitan areas. Contractors come together with a staff person to develop training strategies and solicit industry support. Carolinas AGC sets up the classes, enrolls students and lines up instructors. Contractors underwrite tuition and book costs at the community colleges.

The association also offers a supervisor course and a week-long, intensive supervisor institute, available to members, and blueprint reading and safety programs.

“Things in the construction industry are doing fairly well,” Gennett says. “But finding people is an issue. It’s about hiring good people to make things happen.”

Apprenticeships

ABC Florida East Coast of Coconut Creek, Fla., tackles the need for new talent at the apprenticeship level. Currently, more than 1,400 students are enrolled in its South Florida programs. ABC also uses the NCCER curriculum to prepare workers in the following trades: electrical, HVAC, sheet metal, fire sprinkler, plumbing and power distribution.

Students receive certification after completing the four-year program. They work full time and attend 160 hours per year of classroom or laboratory instruction at night at the ABC Institute.

Enrollment was up 10% for the 2007-2008 school year, says Dan Shaw, president and CEO of the chapter. Between 75% and 80% of students are referred by contractors, who hire the individuals as laborers and see potential in their abilities. The balance of the students contact ABC, which will help them find a position. As part of a special program, ABC has allowed some students working in fields other than construction to audit the first-year classes on a space-available basis. Typically, within six months, those students have found a construction job and can continue with their studies.

Shaw says ABC hopes to expand its offerings to high-school students, perhaps letting seniors take the first-year course, but that remains a goal the association is still working on.

“We have this tremendous need [for workers], and our members have created this infrastructure,” says Shaw about the labor situation in South Florida. “It wouldn’t cost dramatically much to train high-school kids in their senior year. There are all kinds of possibilities.”