GENERATING INTEREST
Remodeling work requires comprehensive knowledge
about an array of trades and the ability to perform mul-
tiple construction tasks on any given day. Contractors
who cooperate with training programs regularly and lend
their technical assistance to apprentices provide valuable
guidance for individuals seeking to improve their lives
and relieve the stress on employers within the industry.
"I want these students to be exposed to local remodeling
companies [in which] a guy pulls up in a nice, new truck,
has tools, works for himself and is proud of the work that
he does," Smith says. "You've got to get involved. We can't
sit back and say our public school system is failing us, or
our workforce is failing us … get involved [locally] and
help shape the workforce of tomorrow."
e Great Recession exacerbated the propensity for
graduates of a four-year college to discover limited—or
even nonexistent—job opportunities. Parents also realized
workers, but many people today lack malleable skills for
construction. Employers ought to think differently about
developing their skilled labor and focus on giving their
support to trade schools and other training programs
that high schools around the country have increasingly
discontinued.
"We want people to understand that our job is not just
an archaic job of the past. It is a job of the future, and one
that can't be outsourced," says Smith, who emphasizes
the role technology plays in construction to change the
mindset of students questioning the stability of a career
in building and remodeling. "Free trade or not, we're not
building a house overseas and shipping it here."
Colorado Construction
Institute in Denver has
received more federal
and state funding over
the last few years,
says Michael Smith,
executive director.
Photos:
Colorado
Construction
Institute
SPECIAL REPORT: Labor Shortage
44 January 2017 QR QualifiedRemodeler.com