According to the Associated General Contractors of America, 86% of construction firms in the U.S. are having problems finding skilled workers, including carpenters, equipment operators, and laborers. Sundt Construction does not want to be one of them.
The Arizona-based firm opened its own training center for craft employees in response to the labor shortages in the industry. Sundt’s Center for Craft Excellence, in Phoenix, offers training across many specialties, including equipment operation, pipefitting, mechanics, industrial carpentry, welding, ironworking, and electrical.
“Finding experienced people has been difficult since the economy shrank. There were a lot of people who left the industry and haven’t returned,” Sundt Craft Training Manager Sean Ray said in a statement. “This facility isn’t just helping us train the next generation of craft workers, it’s allowing us to invest in our people and the skills they use every day on our jobs. It’s a winning situation for everyone: our customers, our craft workers and our company.”
The center can also administer the National Craft Assessment and Certification Program (NCACP), and guide employees to attain National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER) Certified Plus status.
Related Stories
| Aug 11, 2010
Suffolk Construction Company acquires William A. Berry & Son
Suffolk Construction Company, New England’s largest construction company announced today that they have acquired William A. Berry & Son (Berry), the second largest construction company in the region. The two companies, both with deep New England roots and successful track-records, combined will have more than 1,200 employees and projected revenues of $2 billion.
| Aug 11, 2010
University of Florida aiming for nation’s first LEED Platinum parking garage
If all goes as planned, the University of Florida’s new $20 million Southwest Parking Garage Complex in Gainesville will soon become the first parking facility in the country to earn LEED Platinum status. Designed by the Boca Raton office of PGAL to meet criteria for the highest LEED certification category, the garage complex includes a six-level, 313,000-sf parking garage (927 spaces) and an attached, 10,000-sf, two-story transportation and parking services office building.
| Aug 11, 2010
Draft NIST report on Cowboys practice facility collapse released for public comment
A fabric-covered, steel frame practice facility owned by the National Football League’s Dallas Cowboys collapsed under wind loads significantly less than those required under applicable design standards, according to a report released today for public comment by the Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
| Aug 11, 2010
USGBC honors Brad Pitt's Make It Right New Orleans as the ‘largest and greenest single-family community in the world’
U.S. Green Building Council President, CEO and Founding Chair Rick Fedrizzi today declared that the neighborhood being built by Make It Right New Orleans, the post-Katrina housing initiative launched by actor Brad Pitt, is the “largest and greenest community of single-family homes in the world” at the annual Clinton Global Initiative meeting in New York.
| Aug 11, 2010
AIA report estimates up to 270,000 construction industry jobs could be created if the American Clean Energy Security Act is passed
With the encouragement of Senate majority leader Harry Reid (D-NV), the American Institute of Architects (AIA) conducted a study to determine how many jobs in the design and construction industry could be created if the American Clean Energy Security Act (H.R. 2454; also known as the Waxman-Markey Bill) is enacted.
| Aug 11, 2010
Nation's first set of green building model codes and standards announced
The International Code Council (ICC), the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), and the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IES) announce the launch of the International Green Construction Code (IGCC), representing the merger of two national efforts to develop adoptable and enforceable green building codes.
