“We as an industry must find a way to equip individuals who have an interest in a construction career with the skills they need to be safe and productive on a jobsite,” says Michele Roberts-Bauer, president of Associated Builders and Contractors’ Heart of America Chapter.
In the construction industry, some of those individuals happen to be ex-offenders and parolees who are being proactive in turning their lives around.
This past spring, the ABC chapter jumped on the opportunity to support Workforce Partnership, a Kansas City, Mo.-area nonprofit serving three Kansas counties, with its new initiative to help persons transitioning out of the Johnson County Department of Corrections’ Adult Residential Facility to get a head start on a career.
ABC provided the construction curriculum, the instructors and the main training facility, and it secured the personal protective equipment, boots and basic hand tools to ensure the students would receive the appropriate hands-on training.
Workforce Partnership was responsible for securing the 0,000 grant from the state of Kansas, managing the project and providing supportive services, while the Home Builders Association of Greater Kansas City recruited contractors to participate in hiring events for individuals as they graduate from the program.
The 16 recent graduates completed Construction Orientation Readiness Education (CORE), a prerequisite for all trade/apprenticeship classes, plus carpentry coursework, and they earned their OSHA 10-hour certificates. Several already have been hired by local construction firms.
“In order for our local economy to be successful, we have to supply industry members with the talent they need to grow and prosper,” says Sloane Gage, Workforce Partnership’s director of program and workforce development. “If we do not, these companies will close or move out of the area. The entire point of training is to prepare individuals for the workforce; therefore, it is imperative that industry and education be aligned to create work-ready individuals.
“There are very large skills gaps in target markets, such as construction and advanced manufacturing, that can be addressed by promoting in-demand occupations to job seekers and providing them with a baseline training to get them positions in these fields, which pay above many other industries and provide distinct career pathways for advancement without advanced degrees,” Gage continues.
“We were thrilled to have the opportunity to work with the Home Builders Association of Greater Kansas City on this venture because it’s an industrywide solution to an industrywide problem,” Roberts-Bauer adds. “While we know the construction skills needed, Workforce Partnership is an expert in helping individuals with these types of life transitions. What we have created is far stronger than what any one of our organizations could have done alone.”
ABC will continue to work with Workforce Partnership and the Homebuilders Association to expand the program in 2019.
