By Susan Reese
The first annual National Careers in Construction Week is another building block in the National Center for Construction Education and Research’s (NCCER) efforts to help create a skilled workforce for the construction industry.
To further those efforts, the organization has announced the National Careers in Construction Week.
NCCER notes that the success of the event will greatly depend upon local industry involvement, so to help create community awareness the organization will provide an array of promotional materials and suggestions. These include a comprehensive DVD of career image videos and career resources such as promotional posters, media tips, sample press releases, ad slicks, and a Careers in Construction planning guide.
According to NCCER, materials will be distributed free of charge to contractors, schools and association chapters, and select materials will also be available for download from the NCCER Web site at www.nccer.org.
Citing statistics from the Bureau of Labor, which projects that by 2012 one million skilled workers will be needed to fill construction jobs, NCCER President Don Whyte notes, “It is absolutely imperative that we address the skills shortage by reaching out to today’s youth. By dedicating a week to construction careers, we hope to promote recognition among parents, teachers and students of the rewarding career opportunities available in construction.”
NCCER has also worked with a number of industry partners to create the Youth Training & Development Consortium (www.ytdc.org), through which contractors nationwide can access more than 10,000 pre-qualified students with the equivalent of one year of apprenticeship training.
The first National Careers in Construction Week adds one more brick to the foundation NCCER has built for promoting the opportunities offered by the construction industry.
As Whyte explains, “By dedicating the third week of October to construction careers, we hope to increase public awareness of the hard work and contributions of our nation’s craft professionals.”
Susan Reese is a Techniques contributing editor. She can be reached at susan@printmanagementinc.com.
For more information about NCCER, a member of the ACTE Business-Education Partnership, visit www.nccer.org.
- Techniques October 2005 Issue - 
