In pursuit of the next generation of constructors, AGC members and other organizations are moving up – and down – the educational spectrum to engage tomorrow’s talent today.
BY A.D. THOMPSON
Every kid in the world loves LEGOs. But only some LEGO kids have the passion that carries them forward to a place in life where they’re really building the hospital, the school, and maybe if they’re lucky, the pirate ship (assuming it’s part of a resort complex).
In an industry where workforce development has topped the wish list for more than a decade – a recent survey by AGC and Arcoro confirms members’ continuing struggle to stay staffed – tapping into this natural resource has been challenging. Few school districts have programming that supports construction careers. Most that do, don’t tap into the pool until high school, and many don’t include spaces outside the classroom, where real-time skills – and excitement in their employment – help engage.
Post-graduate challenges, too, chip away at the ranks of those who might join the workforce. Around the nation, AGC members are creating unique programs to fortify those ranks.
“Building Is Amazing”
It’s the piece that Zach Fields, vice president of Construction Ready, says is sadly overlooked, industry-wide, in the approach to creating interest in construction careers among children.
“What we build, what we create, is amazing,” said Fields, who leads K-12 workforce development efforts for the Atlanta-based 501c3 workforce nonprofit. “It’s fun to do it. It really, really matters. And there’s such a variety of cool things, whether it’s stadiums or homes or bridges, that we need. We shouldn’t overlook how awesome the process of designing and building and creating is. And young people love to do that.”
The strategy, he says, is simple: Let them do more of it.
Construction Ready, which began its life as CEFGA (the Construction Education Foundation of Georgia) back in 1993 when multiple trade associations pooled resources, noting the need for one workforce-education-facing entity, has since grown formidably, creating a “vertical model” that takes kids from elementary school through high school, supporting and nurturing their interest in construction.
“We need a lot of people for our industry,” said Fields. “And virtually the entire future of it is sitting in a known location for 12 or 13 years. That’s where the people are. Let’s go get ‘em. That’s the premise of it.”
It’s a healthy pipeline Fields likens to a sports-related feeder system.
“We build this space beneath high school where everybody dreams that they’re going to wear the colors one day, and be on this team, expanding programs to middle and elementary schools, creating that bright spot in their day where they get to build and continue building. There’s a massive exponential volume advantage on how many people you reach when you do that.”
You may have 100 students in a healthy high school program, he explained, but earlier-onset programs can reach between 300 and 700 students annually. “We can turn that into 4,000-5,000 with the vertical model, which has been fully in place since 2020 and continues to expand across the state.” Kids are getting a 10- or 12-year runway of building, with those who have an aptitude or discover a passion for it remaining because they really want to.
“And when we get enough demand built, it can actually create a new teacher allocation, which can double the number of students in the high school program.”
Generation “Next”
Z’s already hitting the workplace but the one right behind it, Generation Alpha, is about to embark on its first wave of “tweens.” Like Construction Ready, the folks at Poettker Construction, a member of multiple AGC chapters, which specializes in construction management, have their eyes on this soon-to-be prize.
“As proud sponsors of Junior Achievement, CharacterPlus and other development programs, we’re committed to fostering growth and opportunity,” said John Carroll, executive vice president and chief operations officer. “The NextGen initiative was a natural extension of this commitment, helping us connect students and teachers with the construction of their facilities and providing interactive opportunities for students to shape their futures while advancing our communities.”
The gist: Through NextGen, students from pre-K to high school are encouraged to pursue careers in construction management, architecture, engineering, skilled trades, safety, or quality, participating in everything from groundbreaking to dedication ceremonies as they mark project milestones.
“Poettker also offers hands-on career success opportunities through STEAM learning, paid internships and workforce development programs,” Carroll noted.
Community impact sponsorships see elementary and middle school students submitting detailed plans and goals for a group project or initiatives that will create lasting positive impacts where they live.
“The program started through conversations with clients,” said Carroll, “exploring how we could better engage their students outside of the classroom and address their future needs.”
The first round of awards was distributed to Litchfield Elementary’s School Olympiads Program, Richland County Early Learning Center, and South Central Middle School, all in Poettker’s home state of Illinois, in May of this year.
“As we expand the program, our aim is to reach more schools in the community and create a lasting, meaningful impact that inspires students,” said Carroll. “We’ll continue to grow alongside the evolving needs of our construction management clients, finding new ways to help students develop and thrive within the industry.”
The Gap
Even with programming that carries them through 12th grade, Fields noted, there are true gaps in the system.
“Often, the programs are underfunded due to local decisions,” he explained. “The way education works, there are things that the state can pay for and others they can’t or don’t.”
Construction Ready, along with AGC Georgia, plans carefully to articulate those needs and pounds the pavement even harder.
“We partner with legislators to get workforce allowances that go to those skilled trade programs and get them what they need. In the last few years, that’s been $3.5 million in equipment and $1.5 million in the Teacher Impact Fund.”
The gap here is what industry pros call “the lost decade,” a trend common across post-secondary programs, apprenticeships, technical colleges, and trade schools where the average age, said Fields, is about 27.
“Unfortunately, the K-12 system is built to get a young person to graduation. It takes all their capacity, but they have little help moving beyond.”
As a result, many program participants bounce around a bit before coming back to their training.
“That means you’ve lost 10 years of experience, which equals a lot of money and wages. We need those people to be superintendents at that point and meet some big needs in our industry. We don’t want to see our talent pipeline just pouring out or scattering. We need to close that gap.”
The Teacher Impact Fund financially incentivizes teachers to connect their students directly to employers or post-secondary training that leads to a construction industry career.
“It could be a technical college placement, a trade school or directly to an employer where the teacher plays this role. And it can happen before graduation.”
Some kids in Construction Ready, said Fields, are true go-getters.
One student, Camden Madison, started a power washing business while he was still in high school, he said.
“Now he has service contracts with clients like Truist Bank and Chik-fil-A and a number of other businesses in the community. He’s making great money. He’s hired people. He’s got a really nice truck. It’s special to see people finding their way immediately.”
Another program graduate, Aria Lavender, ended up in the industry by accident when her Roswell High School counselor dropped her into the course randomly.
“She wasn’t planning on taking it, but ended up really enjoying it and became captain of the SkillsUSA Championships competition team, arguably the most prestigious and difficult competition in the trades.”
And she continued, graduating from Kennesaw State University’s construction management program.
Others have taken different routes, going straight into apprenticeships or even coming back to their base of training to get into the industry later.
“There are more and more success stories,” said Fields, “which we’re very happy to hear.”
Lab Partners
Grabbing up the LEGO kids, and creating a few more with fun, targeted programs, is part of the journey, but what of those who – much like Aria Lavender – weren’t construction-minded until they were shown the light?
Enter the Trimble Technology Lab.
The first came online back in 2016 at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, where a faculty member – and skilled user of the construction tech company’s SketchUp design software, among other things – aided its development.
“He was teaching building construction courses and expressed interest in incorporating technology across the Trimble portfolio,” said Amy Northcutt, the company’s director of education & outreach. “He wanted students to understand not only the point solution, but the workflow they were participating in and the different people and parties that they were going to engage with as a part of their real jobs when they graduated.”
The second lab launched in January of the following year at Edinburgh Napier University in Scotland.
“It started with a handful and now we have about 30 in 15 countries across five continents.”
Success like that is magnetic, in part because students from other branches of engineering, and even outside this area of study, often drift in.
“That’s the goal, right?” said Northcutt. “I was talking to a dean at one of the schools last year, and they initiated an open enrollment in the first year where students within the engineering school, rather than choosing chemical or civil engineering on day one, were spending their first year undeclared.”
During this time, they’re educated about the various options within the engineering school. Post-switch, said Northcutt, “they saw an intense uptick in the construction management enrollment, and in part, they believe it’s because students had this perspective about technology – or the lack thereof – in construction.”
Through the Lab, they saw the interesting tech-enabled experiences they could be a part of.
“It’s very exciting.”
So, too, are some of the company’s statistics.
Northcutt says that in 2023, across Trimble’s education programming, they reached 5.5 million students.
“This includes those in the Trimble Technology Lab and our SketchUp for Schools program, which is a free K-12 product that goes to schools through Google and Microsoft. The Lab is university students, but the K-12 program is the feeder into the university programs.”
Way to snag the LEGO kids.
“We want the LEGO kids to be Trimble kids,” she said.