Carolinas AGC Observes Careers in Construction Month in a Variety of Ways
Earlier this year, Carolinas AGC asked Governors in both North and South Carolina to name October “Careers in Construction Month”, to promote increased awareness of the construction industry and to recognize the need for construction education and training. Carolinas AGC offered a mix of events and training to highlight the importance of the industry to our members, the public, and the economies of both states.
During the month of October, Carolinas AGC held networking events in Columbia and Charleston, SC and Fayetteville, Wilmington and Ashville, NC. Our staff and members held partnering meetings with the Departments of Transportation in both states; our HR Committee met ensuring that both our states remain Right to Work states; and our Pinnacle Judges chose the best of the best of construction projects built by our members. We hosted our annual AIANC/CAGC Joint meeting with our Architectural partners, participated in a SC Chamber of Commerce meeting featuring SCDOT Secretary Christy Hall, who talked about the agencies ten-year plan and working with CAGC to address workforce needs, and our President, Dave Simpson, and Board Chair, Marty McKee, attended the 2nd Annual Construction Symposium at Clemson University.
But we didn’t stop there! Our CAGC Foundation hosted our 9th annual Sporting Clays Tournament which is one of our largest fundraisers to support our scholarship program and we held our 12th Annual CAGC PAC Golf Tournament which raises money to support our PAC in South Carolina. We attended a partnering meeting at the Charleston Metro Chamber addressing skilled construction trades, served as lead sponsor of the SCFOR Annual meeting where we celebrated the work of our staff and members in passing a road funding bill during this year’s legislative session in SC, and participated in the orientation of the career coaches in North Carolina. We hosted a webinar on OSHA’s New Silica Standard that had over 100 participants, and met with Fayetteville Tech to begin the process of setting up a Construction Transition Tech program for veterans transitioning out of the military. In addition, our staff and members participated in National AGC’s Highway and Utilities Contractors Conference, the NC Underground Utility Safety Damage Prevention Enforcement Board, and the NC811 Board of Directors meeting, and our Board Officers held their last meeting of the year. As you can see, it was a busy October for Carolinas AGC!
Our staff and members also spent time promoting the construction industry at schools, career fairs, and before several governmental and regulatory agencies as we addressed our industry’s workforce needs. Through our Build Your Career (BYC) initiative we visited six schools and 2 career fairs exposing more than 1200 students to the construction industry. Our BYC staff also met with numerous members who have agreed to partner with CAGC’s BYC program. In NC, we met with the Community College system on Contractor and Construction Pathways and how best to address the branding and messaging scope of work that CAGC was instrumental in passing during this year’s NC legislative session. In SC, we met with Gov. McMaster’s staff as well with the SC Commerce Department to highlight the industry’s workforce needs and how best Carolina’s AGC can partner with each of them to address the construction industries workforce crisis.
Carolina’s AGC would like to thank NC Gov. Roy Cooper and SC Gov. Henry McMaster for signing “Careers in Construction Month” proclamations for both states because it gave Carolinas AGC a chance to spend the month doing what we do best—providing opportunities for contractors, advocating for our industry, and producing results.
