Workforce Development Week Kicks Off

One week after “Infrastructure Week,” the White House is promoting “Workforce Development Week.” As national efforts take the spotlight, construction associations and companies in the Carolinas are already engaged in workforce development and apprenticeship efforts to introduce the next generation of people to the construction industry.

Trump and senior members of his administration have several trips and activities planned to highlight workforce training programs. This week, President Trump, his daughter Ivanka Trump, Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta and other administration officials will announce administrative actions designed to encourage apprenticeships and promote career paths that do not require four-year degrees from colleges.

“They’re proven, they’re effective, and our intent is to expand the apprenticeship program broadly and to scale it up,”  Acosta said. He noted that most people enrolled in apprenticeship programs have jobs waiting at the completion of the program and are earning higher starting salaries than many college graduates. According to the Department of Labor, there were approximately 505,000 apprentices in registered programs at the end of 2016. While apprenticeship programs offer plenty of opportunities, there are roadblocks facing the construction industry.

Getting the message out

“Our biggest roadblock in recruiting skilled trades is their perception of the construction industry,” said Chris Moore, operations manager with CarolinaPower. “We offer a great four-year electrical apprenticeship program (8,000 hours) that provides a combination of on-the-job training and classroom education. When individuals commit to the program, they finish with demonstrated competency and high potential for upward movement — from apprentice, to field, to executive leadership… sometimes even ownership opportunities. Our challenge is to communicate the advantages of our career path over the perceived comforts offered by other sectors, like advanced manufacturing.”

Moore talked about what CarolinaPower is doing to get the word out about this “best kept secret” in education, saying “Apprenticeships are paid for by the company. School counselors and parents of high school students — and middle school students — need to know that apprenticeships exist… that for some students, apprenticeships are a viable option to college scholarships.”

To help get this message out in Upstate South Carolina, for example, Moore is part of a cooperative effort with others in the industry who are participating in periodic meetings with leaders of the local school systems. “We have had two productive meetings to-date this year, so we are headed in the right direction,” said Moore. “The true impact of the worker shortage is going to be financial losses for companies. Companies will end up having less people and will try to do work with bodies, not skilled bodies. We have to get into the schools and talk to students and parents. The bottom line is that every kid doesn’t need to go to college or want to go to college and construction apprenticeship programs can be a win-win solution for the apprentice and the sponsoring company.”

Workforce development efforts in the Carolinas

In the Carolinas, apprenticeship programs have long been established to develop workers with a specialty in the skilled trades. The Associated Builders and Contractors of the Carolinas (ABC) currently offers apprenticeship programs in several trades. According to Doug Carlson, president of ABC of the Carolinas, the organization is increasing its efforts to expand the number of programs offered.

Last month, ABC graduated a class of 16 electrical apprentices. The organization recently announced a new training center in Raleigh, N.C. The association currently has a training facility in Charlotte, N.C., and offers training programs throughout North and South Carolina.

Last fall, the Carolinas Associated General Contractors (CAGC) announced an initiative to help get students interested in the construction industry as a career. “Build Your Career Carolinas” is a program that

enlists industry professionals to visit classrooms, career fairs and other venues where students, displaced adults, and returning veterans can receive practical informative about the construction industry. The initiative officially kicked off in January 2017 following approval by the CAGC Foundation’s Board of Trustees.

Roddy Craft, director of Build Your Career, elaborated on the program, saying “Our intention is to get as many CAGC member companies as possible into middle schools and high schools to talk about construction as a career. One way they are doing this is by participating in school career fairs. I personally have attended five career fairs in recent months — one in Upstate South Carolina, and the other four in different parts of North Carolina. We encounter a cross-section of kids at these events. Some know what they want to do, others don’t. Career fairs give us the opportunity to talk with the undecided students… to give them some options to think about.”

With efforts on the national and local level, apprenticeship programs are inline for a much needed boost.