Schools team up to build interest in construction

The goals are to provide job and career opportunities and to ease the shortage of construction workers.

By CHRISTINE GRAEF

© St. Petersburg Times, published February 9, 2000

ST. PETERSBURG -- There are not enough construction workers. And there are a lot of young people who do not plan to attend college and are undecided about careers.

Bringing the two together might find one solution to both problems. That idea prompted the University of Florida and the University of South Florida to collaborate on a course to be held at Pinellas Technical Education Center's St. Petersburg campus.

Curriculum is set, and the city has allocated $296,000 of its Community Development Block Grant funds toward the project, which will include transportation to class and job sites. Before the classes can start, however, a program coordinator must still be named, and the first class must be chosen. It will include about 20 men and women who are 16 or older for the Construction Crafts Training program.

The six-week program is a back-to-basics approach similar to apprenticeship. The focus will initially be on the three professions most in need: carpentry, masonry and concrete finishing.

"The scarcity of workers is a serious concern," said UF professor Walter Dukes of the college of architecture in Gainesville. "Research shows throughout the country there are not enough construction workers."

William Heller, dean of USF's St. Petersburg campus, said the number of skilled laborers has dwindled over the past decade.

"Companies have brought in workers from out of state," he said. "Even employment agencies have not been able to supply enough trained workers."

Pinellas County is a focus for the course because of its high rate of development and its need for more employment opportunities.

"Locally, we can help the problem by trying to build marketable skills," said Bob Brown, USF director of special projects at the St. Petersburg campus. Brown, Heller and Dukes recently approached the Juvenile Justice Council to recruit teenagers who are caught up in the juvenile system.

"The skills are valued and in demand," Heller said. "We've got to provide a viable option to those who will not succeed in academics."

"Realistically, for a large percentage of kids, especially those not going to college, vocational training is the only way for them to become self-sufficient," said Dr. David Fisher, detective with the Pinellas County Sheriff Department Youth Services Division and a member of the JJC.

On average, 10 percent of students are absent from school on any given day. About half are truant.

"When they're not in class, they're not getting any education," Fisher said. "They're not moving on to something that will help them in life. If resources and alternatives are there, and the students who need them are there, we need to connect them."

Brown, the USF special projects director, said the curriculum will include lessons on money management, what it takes to make a bid and expectations of employers so that students will have an awareness of the entire picture of construction and be more prepared to move up to site management.

"This will offer support and resources leading to a career with skills transferable to any part of the country," Brown said. "It will have an impact on every level of the economy."

Brown said the construction industry is receptive to partnering with the school. After completing the six-week course, students will be paid a stipend included in the course as they continue refining their skills on a job site. Employment eventually will bring in salaries of $24,000 to $55,000 for a carpenter and $24,000 to $44,000 for a mason.

"This is for younger people but also for anyone with economic problems. There is no age limit," said Stephen Nelson, an attorney with Rahdert, Anderson, McGowan & Steele in St. Petersburg, who is working in support with the project. (The firm represents the Times on First Amendment issues.) A former public defender, Nelson said he has seen many teenagers go through courtrooms only to return to a squandered life. With this opportunity, he said, several may find a niche.

Heller, the USF dean, said it's a career that shows rewarding results: "Walking down the street, seeing something in the community that will stand for years and knowing you were a part of building it would be a wonderful feeling."

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