Redefining success after H.S.: Become workforce ready

By CREJ November 19, 2017

: Students from Wheat Ridge High School had the opportunity to learn how to operate a skid steer with OE Construction, a major supporter of construction workforce readiness.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is a continuing series of monthly articles by AGC Colorado.

As labor shortages across several industries in Colorado continue to make headlines, there are still several organizations and companies struggling to fill those skilled trade jobs with few solutions on the horizon. AGC of Colorado recognized this need for construction workers dating back five years and began a comprehensive legislative campaign to combat these workforce development issues.

Michael Gifford, MPA, IOM President, AGC of Colorado

The latest statistics reveal that the Colorado construction industry is about 10,000 workers short of where we need to be in order support the $2.8 billion of investments in construction just in downtown Denver alone, according to the 2017 State of the Downtown Denver report. In addition, there is another $5 billion to $7 billion worth of projects in the city and county of Denver in the next five years that also will need our support. Moving forward even further into the future, the construction industry will create 60,000 new jobs in Colorado over the next 10 years, per Colorado State University’s “Economic Impacts of the Construction Industry on the State of Colorado” report.

Legislative Support to Change Culture of Construction

Beyond the programs mentioned last month to support careers in construction, AGC has been a driving force in taking this labor shortage a step further. With the development and passage of nine bills in 2015, AGC along with several industry groups led the coalition to change the culture of skilled trades careers by redefining the meaning of success after high school. These bills include:

• HB15-1170 – Increasing Postsecondary and Workforce Readiness

• HB15-1276 – WORK Act

• HB15-1274 – Creation of Career Pathways for Students

• HB15-1275 – Career and Tech Ed in Concurrent Enrollment

• HB15-1230 – Innovative Industry Workforce Development Program

• HB15-1270 – Pathways in Technology Early College High Schools

• SB15-138 – ASCENT Program Funding

• SB15-082 – County Workforce Development Prop Tax Incentives

• HB15-1030 – Employment Services for Veterans Pilot Program

• HB15-1271 – Mobile Learning Labs Workforce Development

One bill in particular, HB15-1170, targets the issue head-on with the goal to “Redefine the meaning of success after high school and fill Colorado’s top jobs with skilled workers.” This bill was supported by AGC, along with Colorado Contractors Association, and the Colorado Association of Mechanical and Plumbing Contractors. Representatives Kraft-Tharp and Wilson and Senators Hill and Heath sponsored this bill in the Colorado Legislature.

Although this bill was passed in 2015, we are finally starting to see the workforce readiness indicator take effect. To change the “college-ready” culture in Colorado’s school systems, “We needed to incentivize the schools to show students that there are other options after high school beyond just college,” commented Amy Atwood, workforce development lobbyist for AGC. The most critical component of HB15-1170 is that it requires the Colorado Department of Education to develop a postsecondary and workforce readiness indicator within the performance framework that awards equal weight to post-secondary enrollment options, including career and technical education programs, community colleges and four-year institutions.

Call to Action

To ensure the continued success of this bill, we are challenging our member firms with a call to action. One of the requirements of the bill states that school and district accountability committees must have a member from the community who is involved in business or the industry. Atwood explained that these accountability committees are not a huge time commitment, with meetings held one time per month only during the school year, which equates to about eight meetings per year. “This bill provides construction employees a direct platform to serve as a voice for the construction industry in their local communities and advocate for the need for skilled trade occupations,” concluded Atwood.

To incite true change, we must continue to redefine the meaning of “success” after high school to ensure students are workforce ready, not just college ready. Embarking on a construction career in Colorado provides ample opportunities for career growth and advancement.

Published in the Nov. 15- Dec. 5, 2017, issue of Colorado Real Estate Journal.