How industry partnerships are creating the next generation of construction professionals
BY ELSBETH RUSSELL
The construction industry’s workforce shortage isn’t just looming — it’s here. As contractors navigate growing project backlogs, one solution gaining momentum is the intentional partnership between industry and education. Programs that embed construction professionals into classrooms — whether at universities, apprenticeships or adult education centers — are proving to be powerful pipelines for talent, mentorship and leadership.
The need for skilled workers is undeniable, but solving the problem requires more than recruitment. Increasingly, companies are finding success when they help shape education programs, offering their people as instructors, mentors and guides. The result? A new generation of construction professionals who are workforce-ready and confident from day one.
The Power of Partnership: Shawmut Scholars and Roger Williams University
One standout example is the Shawmut Scholars program, a partnership between Shawmut Design and Construction, a member of multiple AGC chapters, and Roger Williams University (RWU) in Rhode Island. Created during the pandemic, the program was born from a shared desire to diversify the construction workforce while offering students real-world experience.
“For us, it’s that real world experience and industry alignment and really unique ability for students to experience a lot of different facets of the industry,” said Margaret Everett, RWU’s vice president of enrollment management.
“We couldn’t do that without a partnership with Shawmut and other industry partners because they really are the ones who provide that access to all those different facets of the industry,” she added.
The Shawmut Scholars receive four years of tuition support, paid internships and direct mentorship from Shawmut professionals. What started with three students is now expanding.
“As we’re graduating our first cohort of Shawmut Scholars, I think we’ve seen that this can really work for the students, the university and Shawmut,” Everett added. “We’re just hoping and planning to continue and to expand that access for students.”
For students like Amy Parrilla, the program provided not just financial support, but guidance and mentorship that proved to be crucial as she navigated her college experience.
“It makes me so excited to know that companies in the construction world are really prioritizing who is going to be their future employees,” Parrilla said. “[They] want to see students succeed and want people to become professionals, and I’m just really excited to be a part of the industry.”
Parrilla’s experience included working on a historic Newport mansion and shadowing project managers during owner meetings. This spring, she’ll graduate with a job offer from Shawmut.
“I’m going to be starting in the Boston office,” she said. “They’re very good people. They care about the employees. They want them to develop their career.”
Her fellow scholar Jenifer Gomez also found the program life-changing. A double major in Construction Management and Spanish, Gomez was drawn to RWU because of the program’s promise of mentorship and hands-on learning.
“They made my college experience 10 times better,” Gomez said. “They definitely saw my potential before I knew what I could do.”
Shawmut’s Chief People Officer, Marianne Monte, said the program was a strategic response to industry needs. “We knew we had a talent acquisition problem as an industry,” Monte said. “And so, as a leadership team, we got together and said, it’s a math problem, and we need more people. There are only certain programs in New England (at the time where we were particularly working) where we can hire people from. So how do we do this differently?”
That meant creating access and support.
“We realized some of that support was not just an internship in the summer, but more mentoring support as well,” she said.
“We’re so excited for them to start because they really add a lot of value to the teams that they join,” Monte added.
Pros in the Classroom: The Impact of Tradespeople as Instructors
While corporate partnerships like Shawmut’s fuel university pipelines, another critical front is tradespeople stepping into teaching roles themselves. Paul Steiner, who leads Fairfax County Public Schools’ Adult and CommunityEducation apprenticeship programs, sees firsthand how vital working professionals are to the classroom.
“Our biggest struggle is finding a skilled craftsman that want to come back and are interested in teaching,” Steiner said.
Steiner’s program offers hybrid courses in HVAC, electrical and plumbing. Classes are taught by tradespeople who split their time between fieldwork and the classroom — sometimes literally dialing in from a jobsite. Their real-world knowledge creates a uniquely practical learning environment.
“We even have instances where a student is not in class, because they’re on an emergency call. The student FaceTimes in and shows the class, ‘Look at this. This is what I’m doing,’” Steiner said.
“It’s very fulfilling,” Steiner added. “I talk with [potential instructors] about that. What you are doing is you’re making sure that the industry is going to go on.”
One of Steiner’s instructors, Brian Rioja, is a perfect example of the full circle impact of tradespeople in teaching roles. A graduate of the same program, Rioja is now a master electrician, the owner of a firm and an instructor.
“Looking back at it, it’s just crazy how now I’m teaching at the school that I graduated from,” Riojas said. “I never expected myself in the shoes of the guy who taught me at the beginning.”
For Rioja, teaching is also personal. As a DACA recipient who recently became a U.S. resident, he’s proud of what the trades made possible.
“I feel good about what I accomplished,” Rioja said. “I think it’s inspiring to people that no matter where you start, you can make something out of it.”
The Business Case for Building Talent: Burns & McDonnell’s Construction Academy
At Burns & McDonnell, a member of multiple AGC chapters, investing in training goes beyond good citizenship — It’s good business. The company launched its Construction Academy in Houston to address the skills gap through rigorous pre-employment testing and clear advancement paths.
“What we are doing is pioneering the pre-employment assessment process, butalso just the whole culture of ‘we as an organization are going to invest in you as an employee,’” said Jeff Rashall, construction division manager. “We’re going to make the programs available to you, and it’s a shift in culture.”
Employees promote themselves based on mastery — not tenure or relationships.
“It completely eliminated that friction on the jobsite,” Rashall said. “Immediately the culture shifted on the jobsite because people know they’re being paid what they’re able to do.”
Burns & McDonnell even built a mobile assessment unit to expand their reach.
“We all have to attack this problem, this labor shortage problem. We can’t do it by ourselves,” Rashall added. “We’re happy to share. We’re happy to let people come down and tour our academy and talk about what we’re doing because it’s good. We’re pioneering. That’s going to be good for us as a company, but, ultimately, I would love for every other company to implement it.”
Training with Today’s Tools: Planera Brings Tech into the Classroom
As the construction industry changes and evolves, technology is also playing a growing role in bridging education and industry. Planera, a San Diego Chapter and AGC of Colorado Building Chapter member, offers its construction scheduling software free to universities. (Read more about Planera’s EDU program here.)
“The feedback that we get is 5 to 1 preference for this visual way of doing scheduling as opposed to the tabular way of doing scheduling,” said Nitin Bhandari, Planera’s co-founder and CEO. “So that’s very encouraging to us. This is the next generation of builders and planners that go into the industry and they’re very excited to use us.”
Planera’s visual, collaborative approach resonates with students and prepares them to hit the ground running.
“What we want to give students is something that is both simple, but very, very capable,” Bhandari explained.
“[The older generations of builders] love simplicity, but the newer generation almost demands it,” he added. “They’ve grown digitally native; they’ve grown using good software. They need something that’s modern and nice.”
The Future is Collaborative
From universities to jobsites, from digital tools to hands-on mentorship, these partnerships show what’s possible when industry and education collaborate.
Programs that prioritize real-world experience, diversity and leadership development aren’t just training workers — they’re building the future of the construction industry.
As Amy Parrilla put it, “Construction is always thought of as just a job, and it’s more than just a job. I think it’s more of an experience. And that’s also what I got in the Shawmut Scholar program.”