By Katy Roberts
If you are considering a career in the construction industry, the need for workers is high as the economy rebounds from the 2008 recession, and the jobs are more diverse than ever. Programs that offer the training you need to fill those positions and learn a trade also are booming in Georgia.
Developers and builders are resurrecting plans that stalled during the recession and are finishing half-built and once-deserted neighborhoods, office buildings and shopping cen-ters. From start to finish, employers are seeking well-trained workers and skilled tradesman in particular, such as plumbers, electricians, truckers, boilermakers, welders, machine operators, masons and carpenters.
“There are just so many buildings being built companies can’t seem to find enough skilled workers or supervisors,” said Scott Shelar, executive director of Construction Ed-ucation Foundation of Georgia.
You can build a new career path for yourself by moving forward with education and training from a college or apprenticeship program to fill the growing number of jobs. By 2022, employment in Georgia’s construction industry is expected to grow by 26 percent, according to the Georgia Department of Labor.
Construction laborers earn a median $29,160 per year, and salaries for skilled trades jump up to around $36,000 and higher, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. One of the highest paid trades is a boilermaker, with a median salary of about $56,560 per year.
Construction organizations and colleges have increased training programs and career campaigns to encourage Georgians to enter the industry. Employers want candidates with skills gained from hands-on training as well as attention to detail and self-motivation.
Two months ago, the only plumbing experience that Dante Strozier had was “tinkering with stuff around the house” as a stay-at-home dad.
“I felt stuck,” Strozier said. “I wanted to change but I didn’t know how to make that happen.”
In early January, Strozier enrolled in Westside Works, which prepares residents of At-lanta’s Westside neighborhoods for job opportunities in construction and other fields. The construction track, led by the Construction Education Foundation of Georgia (CEFGA), is an intensive four-week training program that includes hands-on training, industry certifications and job readiness training. At the end of the training, students attend a hiring fair, where they inter-view with potential employers and a match is made for employment.
Strozier now is working toward becoming a licensed plumber through FitzGerald & Sons Plumbing Co.’s apprenticeship program.
“I can’t even put it into words,” Strozier said. “It actually changed my life and the way people look at me. It has changed the way my kids look at me.”
The two main pathways to becoming a certified skilled tradesman are technical college programs and apprenticeships. Georgia is flourishing with opportunities in both of these areas.
You can earn while you learn
Apprenticeship programs are based around the principle of “earn while you learn,” meaning students are being paid to work while they are studying the trade.
“Companies are really hungry for new people and so they are willing to pay for the train-ing,” Shelar said.
Independent Electrical Contractors, a national trade organization, provides apprentice-ship training to employees of member electrical companies. Students work on site dur-ing the day and attend classes at night or online. After 576 classroom hours and 8,000 hours of on-the-job training, an apprentice is recognized as a licensed electrician by the U.S. Department to Labor and can work anywhere in the country.
In the 50th year of the Atlanta apprenticeship program, 350 apprentices are currently en-rolled. The program takes four years to complete and the prerequisite is a high school diploma or GED.
For those not yet employed by a contractor, IEC also helps place prospective electri-cians with contracting companies. There is a wide range of job opportunities for electri-cians, from installing power lines to wiring fire alarm systems, said Niel Dawson, execu-tive director of IEC Atlanta.
“Electricity is used for almost everything,” Dawson said. “From the moment you wake up in the morning and your alarm clock goes off to the moment you turn your light off at night, you are using electricity. It is a local job that will always be needed.”
Union contractors only encompass a small percentage of the construction work in Georgia; however, they are usually active on larger projects, such as the Baxter phar-maceutical plant in Covington and the new stadiums in Atlanta. The Atlanta chapter of the International Union of Operating Engineers, involved in these projects, offers an ap-prenticeship program.
The training takes about three years and consists mainly of on-the-job instruction where the apprentices rotate every three months to a new piece of equipment. After complet-ing a proficiency test, it’s back to a weeklong classroom session to learn about the next machine.
“You can learn skills that will last you the rest of your life and have opportunities to move up into management after you learn them,” said Phil McEntyre, business manager of Atlanta’s IUOE chapter.
The only time the apprentices are not being paid is when they are in the classroom. Af-ter completing the program, graduates are placed in a referral system and sent out to job sites. Among all of the operating engineer positions available, crane operators are highest in demand, McEntyre said.
You can find convenient college programs
Georgia technical colleges are growing their construction and skilled trades programs, offering day and night classes to fit into schedules. Chattahoochee Tech expanded its welding program in January to its campus in Dallas, Ga.
Welding is one of the skilled trades highest in demand in Georgia, with employment ex-pected to increase by 40 percent in the next seven years. At Chattahoochee Tech, more than 100 students are enrolled in the program at its Jasper and Dallas campuses.
“As a workforce, we are way behind the demand of welders,” said Jordan Hunter, head welding instructor at the Paulding County campus. “There are not enough skilled weld-ers to fill all the current job openings.”
The diploma program includes training in a variety of welding practices, such as oxyfuel and plasma cutting, pipe welding, and shield metal arc and tungsten metal arc welding. There is a mixture of classroom training, as well as practicing skills in the welding lab.
Chattahoochee Tech has partnered with local industries to place graduates in jobs, but Hunter said unemployment is not a concern in this industry.
“If you are a good welder, you can find a job,” Hunter said.
About 50 percent of welding is done in a production environment, such as automotive manufacturing plants; other career opportunities range from construction to underwater welding. No matter the specialty, Hunter sees the satisfaction that people get from hav-ing a skilled trade.
“There is gratification in either fixing or making something that most people can’t,” he said. “You put it all together and weld it up and it is there for a lifetime. You can always say, ‘I built that.’”
South Georgia Technical College recently expanded its partnership with MetroPower to include students in its Welding and Joining Technology program. Now electrical and welding students can gain hands-on experience and possible employment with the company, which serves communities across the Southeast. Through this partnership, participants alternate between classroom training at SGTC and paid field experience with MetroPower every eight weeks.
It’s all about money
The state’s Strategic Industries Workforce Development Grant (referred to as SIWDG) supplies additional money to students enrolled in certain programs with a high growth potential. The award can be added to any funds received through Georgia’s HOPE grant to pay for college (the application is available at gacollege411.org).
Welding and commercial truck driving are construction industry programs that are ap-proved for the grant. Three other programs, including precision manufacturing, certified engineering assistant, and movie production and set design, have been proposed as additions to the SIWDG beginning in the 2016 academic year.
“These are some programs where we have strong enrollment and there are good jobs,” said Kathryn Hornsby, assistant commissioner for the Technical College System of Georgia. “[Skilled trades] are a really good way to get a higher starting salary and some-times it can be a higher starting salary than if you have a four-year degree.”
Statistics show the grant has paid off. In 2012, students who received the grant reported earning an average annual wage of $1,000 more than other Georgia technical school graduates in their first year on the job.
In Atlanta, Strozier received his first paycheck in February from FitzGerald & Sons Plumbing.
“That felt really good,” Strozier said. “The reality of being able to help provide for my family has given me the boost of pride to make sure I am at work everyday.”
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