Colorado Real Estate Journal - November 19, 2014

Meeting industry’s challenge for skilled, safe workers

The great news is that the construction industry is booming, especially in Colorado; the bad news is the growth in the construction industry is creating huge workforce shortages. Both nationally and in Colorado, construction firms are struggling to find skilled craft workers as well as having difficulties filling supervisory positions.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, Colorado gained 7,700 construction jobs between July 2013 and July 2014. Based on reports from Fails Management Institute, the construction industry will need to add at least 1.5 million workers to successfully install the volume of work that is expected in 2015.

Along with the need to recruit more employees into the industry comes the challenge of ensuring workers are well trained and performing the work safely. Associated Builders and Contractors, Rocky Mountain Chapter, has increased our association’s efforts to meet the demand.

To meet the apprenticeship training needs, ABC co-founded The Construction Industry Training Council in the mid- 1980s. CITC is a nonprofit corporation that trains craftspeople in the areas of carpentry, masonry, painting, sheet metal, plumbing, sprinkler fitting, electrical and pipe fitting.

Both nationally
and in
Colorado,
construction
firms are
struggling to
find skilled
craft workers as
well as having
difficulties
filling
supervisory
positions

As the demand for highly skilled apprentices continues to increase, CITC has grown and this year has record enrollment with more than 550 apprentices currently enrolled in the program. Most of the growth in enrollment has occurred in the electrical, plumbing and sheet metal trades.

CITC also has incorporated new technologies, such as videoconferencing, to provide even more training opportunities throughout the entire state of Colorado. Videoconferencing allows students to “remote in” to classes and provides them with the capability of interacting with the instructor and other students in the class.

Construction firms also are facing a shortage of experienced foremen, project m a n a g e r s and superintendents.

To meet the needs of construction firms in Colorado, ABC has increased its focus on training i n d i v i d u als in field supervisory roles and is expanding its educational offerings to help train existing and new supervisors in 2015.

ABC launched our Leadership Academy in 2014 with more than 35 participants enrolled in the program to develop the next generation of leaders in the industry. ABC partnered with Crestcom to offer The Bullet Proof Manager where emerging business leaders can grow their skills, exchange ideas and share what is working within their companies.

With the huge influx of new employees coming into the industry, the demand for safety training also has increased. To meet this demand, ABC has created a new and innovative solution to providing safety training to the industry at a greatly reduced price. The Construction Core Competency program is designed around the basic safety certifications required by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and incorporates both hands-on and classroom training.

C3 provides the highest-quality safety training conveniently organized into four color-coordinated levels that correspond to the employee’s field experience and required certifications. C3 incorporates a unique tracking system that allows companies to access safety documentation for employees through scanning a bar code on employees’ hard-hat sticker with a smart phone or that can be accessed online. This online solution, Complete Safety Training Tracker, was developed in a partnership between ABC and Complete Safety LLC.

In addition to accessing training certificates through QR Codes, the system provides a database that helps companies organize and manage their employees’ safety training in one convenient place.

Other tools that ABC offers to help construction firms address the workforce shortage include an online jobs board (www.constructionjobnetwork.

com), where workers can connect with companies looking to hire, and the Build Your Future website (www.BYF.org), which educates potential employees about careers in construction, earning potential and provides a portal to construction training centers and job opportunities.

Workforce development continues to be a top priority for ABC, both nationally and in Colorado, as outlined in our strategic plans. ABC will continue to expand our workforce development efforts, building upon programs already in place and creating new programs that complement current efforts to address the current and future workforce needs as they relate to recruiting and training in the construction industry.