The Youth Movement
AGC Georgia Members Take Ownership of Workforce Challenges
“No one association or company, working alone, can create the range of initiatives we need to ensure a sustainable construction workforce.” Mike Dunham, CEO, AGC Georgia More than a decade ago, Associated General Contractors of Georgia (AGC Georgia) put forth a conduit-to-construction-careers strategic plan that emphasized advocacy, education and relationships within the industry, with public and private entities and in the community. The roots of those relationships are bearing fruit, giving shape to one of the nation’s most comprehensive and successful workforce initiatives.
One of the most vocal and visible proponents of the initiative is Mike Dunham, CEO of AGC Georgia—who has likely tapped on the shoulder of someone from most AGC Georgia member companies at some point in recent years to encourage participation in the initiative. Currently, AGC Georgia represents nearly 600 of the top commercial construction companies in the state.
When asked why he’s so passionate on the workforce/diversity topic, Dunham points to three benefactors: community, business and workforce. “First, it’s the right thing to do,” he explains. “Our organization and the industry need to be one that invites everyone into our world. From a business standpoint, it’s a fact that companies with greater diversity will have better outcomes. Finally, there’s the very real workforce shortage. Professionals are leaving the industry versus those entering at a rate of 4 to 1. We have to excite new generations of people about our world.”
The K-12 Connection
In Dunham’s mind, introduction to the exciting and rewarding world of construction begins at an early age. A key piece of AGC Georgia’s workforce initiative starts in elementary school, building on the familiar and successful template of youth sports.
“We start educating kids about sports at 5 years old,” Dunham says. Why can’t we use the same model to introduce young people to our industry?”
He points out that the No. 1 toy in every kindergarten playroom is some sort of building system like LEGO or Lincoln Logs. “In my mind, every kindergartener is a designer/builder,” he says. “Many of them have a passion and aptitude for our business at a very young age. Our job as an industry is to never let them lose it.”
With that in mind, AGC Georgia is establishing programs in elementary and middle schools. One such program is the Young Apprentice Construction Club (YACC), an after-school program for fourth and fifth graders. A group of elementary schools (Mountain Park, Mimosa and Vickery Mill) in the city of Roswell, Georgia, have adopted the program, which teaches students how to use tools such as hammers, jigs and squares with different kinds of woods and materials.
The construction club premise then feeds into Roswell’s two middle schools (Crabapple and Elkins Pointe), where students are introduced to trades such as carpentry, electrical, plumbing and masonry. The middle school program ultimately feeds into Roswell High School construction programs. Starting in August 2018, the YACC program will expand to the three remaining elementary schools that feed into Roswell High School. It is also expected to expand to other Georgia school districts during the 2018-19 year.
Programs such as YACC have been so well received in Roswell that the Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) is now offering grants for districts to start middle school construction programs for the 2018-2019 school year.
“The additional funding was announced after our ongoing discussions with the Governor’s office to designate construction as one of five industries to be part of the High Demand Career Initiative (HDCI),” Dunham says.
HDCI, launched in 2014 by Governor Nathan Deal, is a talent initiative designed to define future talent needs as stated by the private sector, thus providing state education institutions a guideline to developing curriculum for preparing tomorrow’s workforce. HDCI is a continuation of the Georgia Competitiveness Initiative, an effort that helped make Georgia the No. 1 state in the nation in which to do business for five consecutive years.
Once construction was given the HDCI designation, the Georgia DOE provided more funding for construction education through the Career, Technical and Agricultural Education (CTAE) Leadership.
“Introducing students to the career path early in their education gives us a better chance of filling the high school construction programs,” Dunham continues, “which then helps with recruiting more young people to the industry.”
A Call to Action
While elementary and middle school programs certainly provide a foundation for raising awareness about construction careers, a large part of AGC Georgia’s workforce initiative looks to engage and excite high school and college-age students.
A member call to action slogan—One School, One Instructor, One Student, You—challenges AGC Georgia member companies to introduce themselves to a high school or technical college construction program in their local region.
“We’re encouraging our people—project managers, estimators, executives, owners—to get off the sideline and into the schools, engage with educators, offer support and find ways to help bolster existing programs or even start new ones,” Dunham explains. “With this simple connection, we are seeing instructors’ passion rising to a new level, which is igniting a buzz about construction career paths with students.”
In many cases, the connection between an educator and industry professional is as simple as talking to students about the day-to-day life in construction. Still other programs, such as the Workforce Development Alliances (WDAs) provide AGC Georgia members broader opportunities to contribute both financially and physically. The Alliance programs connect high school students, counselors and construction program teachers, school officials and others with post-secondary construction programs.
Through WDAs, AGC Georgia has increased the number of construction career fairs around the state, supported the Mentoring a Girl in Construction (MAGIC) program, delivered more construction materials and resources to students and instructors, and strengthened local education programs.
In the last year, WDAs hosted four regional Skills Challenges where students compete in electrical, carpentry, plumbing, masonry, welding, A/V production and Team Works activities. This past year saw a 290 percent increase in participation (420 student competitors from 54 high schools). Two hundred firms contributed $114,000 to the competitions. These local Skills Challenges help prepare students to advance to state, regional and national SkillsUSA competitions.
AGC Georgia is also a big supporter of YouScience.com, an aptitude-driven tool designed to reveal a student’s natural abilities to help them identify potential career directions. The tool is free to every high school student in Georgia due to AGC Georgia helping introduce YouScience to the State Board of Education.
Not one to settle for the status quo, Dunham adds, “I see all kinds of opportunities to do even more. We have 150 high schools with some form of trade program in the state. Our goal is to help open new programs and restart programs that were stopped at some point in the past.”
Building Momentum
As part of its larger workforce initiative, AGC Georgia has grown the number of school programs connected to contractor members to over 100, coordinated in-kind donations totaling over $50,000 and served as an advocate and resource for creation of four new high school construction programs—all in the last year.
The added exposure in K-12 education has helped open doors with other organizations. Dunham, who has sat in the front row at meetings with executives from the Georgia DOE and the Technical College System of Georgia as well as the state’s governor, and lieutenant governor, believes it is imperative that public agencies work in concert with the industry to open the eyes of Georgia’s youth. For instance, as part of an externship, a program to connect Georgia DOE leaders with private industry, the head of CTAE with the Georgia DOE assigned her Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) director to spend time with employees from a construction company.
“The STEM director was hesitant at first, not really knowing how STEM and construction are connected,” Dunham says. “On the first day, she visited a controller, a building information modeling (BIM) professional, an estimator and then visited a jobsite where drones were put to work. By the end of the externship, she was a construction advocate.”
With high energy and strong momentum, AGC Georgia is excited about the coming school year and all the opportunities to engage and excite people of all ages about construction.
When asked how he evaluates success, Dunham says, “One way is by increasing the number of accredited construction programs. Students in these programs are earning credentials that make them job ready. Right now, around 17,000 students are enrolled in 150-plus construction programs. In five years, I expect to see 25,000 and in 10 years maybe 35,000. The easiest way to measure success, though, is by the ultimate growth in the talent pool.”
Continuing his impassioned quest to improve diversity in construction, he concludes, “We can’t simply wish for skilled, motivated employees to knock on construction company doors—we have to work together. No one association or company, working alone, can create the range of initiatives we need to ensure a sustainable construction workforce. If you’re ready to make a difference, join us!”