Not your Father’s Construction Industry Anymore
As we observed in The Editor’s Notebook back in October,“the economy’s need for skilled personnel in the workplace has never been greater, and therein lays great opportunity.
"Part of the challenge for our community, however, has been access, the linking of those opportunities to those who need them most, especially inner city boys and girls. Too often the best they can find are “training opportunities” that lead at best to deadend jobs. But as Matthew Danis, vice president of medium-sized Shook Construction [$200 million in annual sales], told us last month at the first-ever ACE Cleveland Family Day in Greater Cleveland, a focused high school student can set him- or herself up for a 40-year career earning an average annual income of $80,000. Hilton Smith (top left), Senior V.P., Turner Construction Company was the keynote speaker.
ACE stands for Architecture, Construction, and Engineering. It represents one of the construction industry’s most effective tools for recruiting and developing thefuture builders of America and the world. Comprised of all-size industry members, from small builders up to industry giants like Turner Construction, which has built 17 NFL stadiums and built or improved virtually every NBA arena in the country, the ACE Mentoring was founded in 1994 as a way of exposing high school students to career paths in the building industry. These opportunities are a far cry from traffic flagging or even jackhammering.
Angela Jones, Government Affairs Specialist with the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District (NEORSD), was the Mistress of Ceremonies for the ACE Family Day sponsored by Cleveland State University, Construction Employers Association, University Hospitals and NEORSD. Family Day included speakers, workshops and college fair with Cleveland State University, Cuyahoga Community College, Eastern Michigan University, Kent State University, Northern Ohio Colleges and Higher Education and the University of Akron.
Justin Dean (top right), for example, became aware of opportunties in the construction field through the ACE program while a student at Collinwood HS. He graduated from Ohio University this summer and is now a project engineer for Trumbull-Great Lakes-Ruhlin, the joint venture prime contractor on the $273 million Innerbelt Bridge project. Lee Foster (bottom), who participated in the Tri-C and Urban League of Greater Cleveland Pre-Apprenticeship programs was also recently employed as a carpenter with Trumbull- Great Lakes - Ruhlin, on the Innerbelt Bridge project.
ACE Mentoring Cleveland has 135 students, from 6 Cleveland Metropolitan School District high schools participating with 85 Architectural, Construction and Engineering mentors.
The ACE Final Night Banquet and Scholarship Program will be held April 21, 2015. Margaret Bernstein - Director of Advocacy and Community Initiatives, WKYC TV will be the guest speaker.