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The construction industry faces a shortage of workers, but programs and people from all over the country work locally to solve the problem. This series highlights those efforts that help recruit the next generation of construction professionals. Read the previous entries here.
Do you know a group that is helping to attract workers to the construction industry? Do -us to know
A group of more than 140 high school students gathered in the Catalina High School in Tucson, Arizona, at 8 am on February 7.
During the next six and a half hours, they competed in seven different categories, such as carpentry, masonry, plumbing and electric work, showing their commercial skills for judges, who are also local contractors.
Arizona Builders Alliance, based on Tempe, is a support organization throughout the state of about 400 member companies associated with the general associated contractors of America and the associated builders and contractors. According to Kim Davids, CEO of ABA, he has been running the competition since 2019.
“It’s just a really fantastic opportunity for young people and teachers to integrate with our members and try to excite students with a career or potential for construction,” Davids told Construction Dive.
The competition is part of the Skillsusa Construction Competition, which takes place in the region of Organization 6. Skillsusa, a national student and non -profit labor development, manages national competitions, but the most local, such as those in Arizona, are run by the state or other regional affiliates.
Davids said that many of the students are already enrolled in technical schools or other career and technical education programs, but some are simply passionate about the persecution of trades.
Hiring, withholding, education
The event is an important step for young people who start their career, as many attendees can already wish to continue the shops, said Michael Goodwin, JB Steel’s business development and ABA member, based on Tucson, for more than a decade.
“Basically, this plant event then provides children who are in CTE programs the ability to go out and show us the different skills they have learned,” Goodwin told Construction Dive. “It helps to build the depth for children to understand what a real career is and what their goals are.”
Students compete in the Skillsusa competition of Arizona Builders Alliance in Catalina High School in Tucson, Ariz., On February 7, 2025.
Courtesy of Arizona Builders Alliance
But the event is not just to show, strengthen and evaluate students.
“Through this annual competence, the ABA exemplifies the power of industry collaborations in the formation of professional education and the change of perceptions of commercial races between students and parents,” said Gilbert Maldonado, responsible for the ABA program, in a statement on the event.
Davids echoed this, saying that reaching families of individuals interested in shops is vital.
“It is also for parents sometimes and teachers. I feel that in my career, what I have seen is that there has been a stigma and people just think:” Well, construction is what you do when you have exhausted all other opportunities, “said Davids.
However, opinions on merchants may have begun to change. A new independent study by Wakefield Research for the National Association of Metal Contractors and Air Conditioner He found that 89% of parents with children currently in high school believe that they are smart for young adults to take into account the persecution of shops.
The study said that parents took into account the labor market, economics and university debt according to their opinion. A little less than half had had their child to mention a trade, while 86% said they would be open or foster a career in handmade competencies.
Finally, Goodwin said this event helps to show entrepreneurs and students to create industry. For example, builders show how they have adopted on -site technology, such as tablets instead of two -dimensional drawings, can function as a hiring tool.
“Innovation is doing business,” said Goodwin. “It’s not the same old construction you got used to the past.”
