Schools, Industry Team to Bolster Trades Work Force
By Campbell, Melissa
The Anchorage School District and seven construction industry organizations have signed agreements to forge initiatives aimed at increasing the number of high-school students and young adults, entering the construction trades fields.
It’s a rare partnership, said Rick Rios, the vocational education director for the Anchorage School District.
“It’s a historical moment in the school district and in the U.S.”, he said. “It’d be difficult to find this anywhere else.”
The district has worked out various agreements with the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Associated Builders and Contractors of Alaska, Alaska Works Partnership, Alaska Ironworkers Labor Union 751, Southern Alaska Carpenters Union Training Center, Alaska Operating Engineers Apprenticeship Program, and Alaska Joint Electrical Apprenticeship and Training Trust.
The district has agreed to expand its construction trades program over the next two years, with plans to increase the program from 250 highschool students to 500 high-schoolers and adults looking to get into the industry.
In return, industry leaders have agreed to offer construction Jobs to students who have completed the ASD program. Students will have to apply to apprenticeships or for job openings.
Some trade groups will offer a certain number of points for credit hours completed. Those with the most points have the best chance at jobs. Others will offer hours toward completing apprenticeships for credits earned in the school’s programs.
The IBEW is going a step further. The union is offering to hire two of the district’s best students who have graduated from the program.
“We’ll take the high achievers,” said Vince Beltrami, the union’s statewide training director. “We’re handing these kids a career, where most who enter into the program are older.”
Students will have to meet all the union qualifications, including displaying basic knowledge in electrical work and a high level of math skills. Those applying also will be interviewed.
The top two candidates will get job offers, with a starting pay of $17 an hour, plus a benefits package comparable to an additional $15 an hour. After working 1,000 hours, they’ll be up for a 5 percent pay raise, just like any other apprentice, Beltrami said.
That’s what Rios likes to hear. Construction-type classes already are offered at East and West high schools, as well as at the King Career Center. Other high-school principals have shown interest in bringing trades classes to their schools, Rios said.
The district has developed courses that offer college credits through the University of Alaska Anchorage, and offers nationally recognized certifications that help young people get into apprenticeship programs right after graduation.
The latest agreement with the trade groups builds on those efforts, Rios said.
“These trade groups want our students,” he said. “If we make and frame good kids, they’ve got to pick them up when they’re 18, 19, 20 years old. They need guaranteed jobs in the industry. We have to do our part, too. The kids have to come out of school able to go into the work force.”
To help fund the expansion, the district is waiting to hear about a proposal to receive $100,000 in grant money from the state Department of Labor to help pay for the programs.
The Associated General Contractors of Alaska and its members are also working with legislators to include $1 million in the state’s budget bill. The money would go toward offering courses during the summers and In the evenings to 17- to 24-year-olds, said AGC executive director Dick Cattanach.
Last year, the district received a $50,000 federal grant to invest in construction trades education, and the district will add $25,000 to the program.
Of the roughly 14,000 high-school students, about 2,500 are enrolled in at least one vocational or technical education course at any given time, Rios said.
State and industry officials estimate that more than 1,000 new construction workers will be needed every year for the next several years, especially if the proposed natural gas line project gets underway. AGC has forecasted that the industry will do about $6.6 billion in work this year, $1 billion more than what was done in 2005.
The district is ready to launch two new construction-related programs beginning this summer.
One is to offer trades classes – mostly higher-level courses – during summer school.
In cooperation with the nonprofit work force development organization Alaska Works, the district also plans to sponsor a fiveweek concentrated construction institute for seniors and recent graduates to prepare them for jobs or apprenticeships.
The agreements with the trade groups also coincide with the school district’s initiative to add a third shift of classes and a summer school program at KCC for the 2006-07 school year.
Copyright Morris Communications Feb 19, 2006