Construction Career Collaborative
Our industry has historically survived the ups and downs of the economy and been able to attract workers back into our workforce. However, according to a Construction Industry Institute study, “the industry’s ability to retain workers during the recessions and its ability to rehire them afterwards has declined.”
In addition to a steady decline in quality and productivity in the last 30 years, there has been a gradual erosion of wages in many crafts. Today our project engineers and project managers enter the market out of college at a higher salary than the most skilled and experienced craft journeyman.
In order to attract workers, the commercial construction industry must be able to compete aggressively with other industries for the services qualified applicants. Our industry must commit itself to addressing issues dealing with financial security, health and well-being, training and education if we intend to attract and retain our share of these qualified workers. The demand by all industries to find workers for those jobs is our competition, not each other.
In 2009, AGC held its first discussion about developing the craft force that will be needed for our commercial construction industry to effectively perform future work in Houston. Since then, seven task forces and a collaboration among construction trade associations have worked diligently on this challenging task.
Three participants – Owners, Contractors and Specialty Contractors – have committed to three principles – competitive wages and benefits, safety training and craft training – as absolutely necessary to attract, train and retain a verifiably qualified workforce. As this Construction Career Collaborative (C3) gains traction, three levels of implementation have been planned in order to meet our industry goals – Competent (current), Qualified and Skilled (future).
C3 has laid the foundation for industry craft workers who are necessary to build our projects. Owners, Contractors and Specialty Contractors are partnering with craft workers to express true appreciation to their commitment to producing quality projects in an efficient manner. Thanks to all that have helped create, support and execute the mission of the Construction Career Collaborative.
C3 Beta Projects
University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center BETA 1
Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Building
General Contractor: Vaughn Construction
Texas Children’s Hospital BETA 2
Multi-Phase Project – Pavilion for Women
General Contractor: W.S. Bellows Construction
University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center BETA 3
Mid Campus Administration Building
General Contractor: Linbeck Group, LLC
University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center BETA 4
CABIR (Center for Advanced Biomedical Imaging Research) Phase III
General Contractor: Vaughn Construction
University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center BETA 5
The Pavilion
General Contractor: McCarthy Building Companies
Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston BETA 6
Borski Athletic Center Renovation
General Contractor: Brookstone, LP
The Construction Career Collaborative (C3), an alliance of Owners, Contractors and Specialty Contractors, was established in 2010 to positively affect the growth of a sustainable workforce for the commercial construction industry in the Greater Houston region. For more information, visit www.constructioncareercollaborative.org
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