Construction Career Collaborative

This past Tuesday I had the opportunity to listen in on approximately 4½  hours of testimony on workforce training programs in Texas.  The hearing was held by the Senate Committee on Business and Commerce who have been charged to study whether such workforce training programs currently meet business and worker needs in Texas.  On the whole, the discussion was positive because there was a definite recognition by all presenters, as well as by the members of the committee, of the need to focus more on “career ready” as opposed to only “college ready” students.  It seems there is a wide variety of career opportunities available to high school graduates with the proper skills training.   Read more »

The National AGC Safety and Health Conference] was held in San Antonio in January and I had the opportunity to present the Construction Career Collaborative (C³) industry initiative to over 160 safety professionals.  The initiative was well received by our safety professionals as a means to verifiably provide safety training to each craft worker and supervisor.   Read more »

Last month Cornerstone, the quarterly magazine of American General Contractors Houston (AGC), published an article about the Construction Career Collaborative (C³), the initiative advanced by socially responsible owners, contractors and specialty contractors in the Houston area to improve the commercial construction industry by embracing principles that will lead to a sustainable craft workforce.  Titled Building a Viable Career Path: C³ Brings Owners and Contractors Together in Favor of Training, Fair Wages, and High-Quality Craft Workers, the article offers a comprehensive view of C³ from its task force origin two years ago through its development and promotion to its current position preparing to launch with a few “beta” projects.   Read more »

Last week, I attended the Texas Carpenters and Millwrights Training Trust meeting in San Antonio.  Approximately 15 people participated – a blend of management and labor trustees – from the major cities in Texas.  We also had a special guest, Dennis Donahue, the newly appointed head of the Millwrights Union for an 11 state area.

We had a special presentation by Kenneth Posey of the Houston Community College; his objective was to explain the relationship between the HCC and the Houston Apprentice School.  He is a fine gentleman, a registered engineer, and a former director of the Pipe Fitters Apprentice Program.  He is a passionate advocate for craft training.

He opened his remarks by distributing the  brochure and bragging about the initiative Construction Career Collaborative (C³), suggesting it will only enhance craft training Read more »

On November 17th, the Houston Chapter of the American Subcontractors Association held its monthly membership luncheon at the HESS Club.  The topic for the meeting was a panel discussion covering the Construction Career Collaborative (C³) initiative.  Panelists were Peter R. Dawson, AIA, Senior Vice President, Facilities Services, Texas Children’s Hospital; Joe Savala, Associate Vice President, Facilities Administration, The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center; Jim Stevenson, CEO, W.S. Bellows Construction Corporation; and Tom Vaughn, CEO, Vaughn Construction.  I served as the panel moderator, leading the panel through a series of questions  Read more »

One of our bloggers, Pat Kiley, CEO of Kiley Advisors LLC and former president of the AGC in Houston, attended the recent screening of the Houston 2040 Scenarios presented by the Center for Houston’s Future.

Here are his observations and comments.

I think all Construction Trade Associations and their members should see this presentation, and simultaneously learn about the Construction Career Collaborative (C³) and the Immigration Reform efforts.

Either of the two scenarios, or something in between, creates enormous opportunity and enormous challenge for our industry.  The opportunity is to create the built environment required Read more »

Blogger Mike Holland discussed a workforce initiative of the Houston Chapter of the Associated General Contractors in his November 3, 2010 post.  Since that time, over fifty individuals from Houston area contractor and specialty contractor companies have been working in seven task forces to fulfill the mission of creating a method whereby socially responsible owners, contractors and specialty contractors can positively affect the growth of a sustainable workforce.  The task forces aim to achieve this by advancing principles that raise the image of the industry, attract and retain verifiably qualified workers, provide a safer and healthier environment and improve efficiency and productivity.  Formerly called the Construction Industry Sustainable Workforce Alliance (CISWA) and now known as the Construction Career Collaborative (C³), the initiative has sought the support of other leading industry organizations from ABC, ASA, MCA, OSHA, HASC to SCTC in the effort  Read more »