Construction industry leaders and high school students from across Arkansas have gathered at the Hot Springs Convention Center for a SkillsUSA Conference Tuesday and Wednesday, aiming to address a looming workforce crisis in the construction industry.
The National Center for Construction Education and Research projects that 41% of the construction workforce will retire by 2031. Conferences like SkillsUSA represent a connection between potential future construction workers and Arkansas construction companies, according to Tracy Chambers, vice president of production at Nabholz Construction of Conway.
Chambers has been involved with SkillsUSA for 25 years. The two-day event, sponsored by the Associated General Contractors (AGC) of Arkansas, brings together students from 117 high schools, middle schools and 14 post-secondary chapters to compete in hands-on skilled trades events, with winners advancing to a national competition.
Competitions include architectural drafting, cabinetmaking, carpentry, carpentry display, diesel equipment technology, electrical construction wiring, heavy equipment, HVAC and refrigeration, masonry, pipe welding, plumbing, technical drafting, welding sculpture, welding fabrication, applied engineering and building maintenance.
“It’s a big impact for students getting to come here and compete,” Chambers told Arkansas Business during an interview. “It helps them get a good start into construction and meet people that are hiring.”
Chambers said Nabholz has successfully recruited competition participants as employees, including their current mill shop manager.
“People are retiring all the time and you have to have the workforce to come and do the work,” he said.
Zach Sloan, executive director of the Arkansas Construction Education Foundation (ACEF), said that changing perceptions about careers in trades has been crucial.
“The stigma of a career in the trades has drastically changed over the last decade. What was once a last-resort option has turned into something that you can establish a career with and have an extremely nice life,” Sloan said.
The nonprofit operates pre-apprenticeship programs throughout the state, currently enrolling more than 200 students set to graduate in May. According to Sloan, these programs have maintained an 80% placement rate over the past five years, with graduates entering either the workforce directly or continuing to trade school or apprenticeship programs.
“There’s just so much interest,” Sloan said. “If we could procure enough money, I truly believe we could put 1,000 or more students into our pre-apprenticeship programs.”
Chambers said pre-apprenticeship programs and SkillsUSA are helpful for recruiting students out of high school, but also in helping students get degrees in construction majors.
“The job training experience you get [from this], when you do go to class and sit in the classroom, you can relate a whole lot more of what you’ve been doing to understanding what they’re talking about,” Chambers said. “That’s a big advantage to it.”
Sloan said the ACEF charges approximately $1,000 a year in tuition for its apprenticeship programs and that 100% of graduates finish with zero student loan debt. Apprentices are required to seek employment prior to enrolling in school and employers train them on the job while they attend school at ACEF one night a week.
Sloan also said that events like SkillsUSA are a great place to recruit students for the program and give options to students who don’t plan to attend college. It also helps construction companies find employees, he said.
“SkillsUSA highlights just the talent and the skills that some of these kids have,” Sloan said. “Some of the skills that these kids are learning through their their construction programs at their high schools or at their secondary career centers are so far ahead than a graduate a decade ago.”
Brad Spradlin, president and CEO of AGC Arkansas, emphasized the importance of these programs in a press release about the SkillsUSA event.
“The future of our industry depends on young people gaining real-world, hands-on experience in events like this one,” Spradlin said in the release. “Our partnership with SkillsUSA allows us to directly invest in the growth of a skilled workforce, helping ensure that Arkansas’ construction sector continues to lead in both quality and innovation.”
Sloan echoed that sentiment.
“If we’re not proactive and we don’t take drastic measures to start to reach students and let them know the quality of life that you can have by continuing your education in an apprenticeship program or at a trade school, we’re going to feel those effects long-term,” he said. “Construction is the backbone of the state. It has a trickle-down effect.”
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