Celebrating excellence in training, Michigan Construction Week was observed the week of April 26th through the 29th.

To highlight a variety of construction career opportunities and the quality of training offered in Michigan, a series of open house kick off events were held at apprentice training centers around the state on Monday, April 26.

Careers in a wide range of specialties are available to anyone who has an interest in the industry. The work covers a long list of skilled trades, with only a high school degree or its equivalent needed for entrance. There are also college degree programs available for construction management, engineering, and architectural design, with many construction associations offering scholarship programs to assist with tuition.

Michigan’s overall economy is making a slow recovery, and the state’s construction industry has been no exception. Still, construction’s long-term trends continue to flash warning signals to contractors. Their workforce is aging. Many skilled trade workers will be retiring over the next decade. Even in a depressed job market, shortages in a few of the crafts already are cropping up.


New Workers Needed

New workers will be needed to fill the jobs left open by the retirees, and then some, according to forecasts prepared by the U.S. Department of Labor. Over the next ten years, an approximately 15% growth in the construction workforce – over and above retiree replacement – will be necessary to meet our nation’s needs.

“In fact,” notes Tom Boensch, secretary-treasurer of the Michigan State Construction and Buildings Trades Council, “construction’s the only sector in the economy that’s predicted to have any labor growth between now and 2015.”

Boensch said one purpose of the week is to make people much more aware of the many excellent career opportunities offered in our industry, along with the excellent training facilities that have been built to provide us with productive, safety-oriented, and highly skilled workers.

Unlike college students, apprentices in the skilled construction trades are paid while they are trained while also receiving health and other benefits. The academic credits they can earn as part of their apprenticeship training are provided at no additional cost to them.

Great Lakes Regional Training Center One of Many Open House Sites

The official opening ceremonies for Michigan Construction Week were held in the recently opened Great Lakes Regional Training Center for the United Association (UA) of Journeyman and Apprentices of the Plumbing an Pipefitting Industry.

Located on the campus of Washtenaw Community College (WCC) in Ann Arbor, it’s the home of UA University, a program that provides apprenticeship training in the pipe trades combined with academic credit toward associate degrees in science, arts, or applied sciences from WCC. Veteran journeymen can also return to UA University to upgrade their skills, learn new technologies, and move up in their chosen field. Among their opportunities are advanced training tracks to become construction supervisors or apprentice instructors.

“I’ve been a project supervisor for over ten years and I still learned a lot,” Al Culbreath, a master plumber from Local 190 in Ann Arbor said of a skills upgrading session he took at UA University. “The law classes have been especially interesting to me. It has been an excellent learning experience.”

Apprenticeship training at UA University culminates in UA S.T.A.R. certification. Involved is a qualifications examination conducted by the National Inspection-Testing-Certification Corp., which tests competence in heating, ventilation, air conditioning, refrigeration, plumbing, steam systems, and many other related areas. The S.T.A.R. program was developed jointly between the UA and Ferris State University, to assure project owners that they are receiving services from the mechanical construction industry’s highest trained technicians.

Apprenticeship training at UA University culminates in UA S.T.A.R. certification. Involved is a qualifications examination conducted by the National Inspection-Testing-Certification Corp., which tests competence in heating, ventilation, air conditioning, refrigeration, plumbing, steam systems, and many other related areas. The S.T.A.R. program was developed jointly between the UA and Ferris State University, to assure project owners that they are receiving services from the mechanical construction industry’s highest trained technicians.

Greater Michigan PMC Partners with National Foundation for Energy Education

In its ever-increasing efforts to educate our youth on the extraordinary benefits of a career in the plumbing and mechanical industry, the Greater Michigan PMC has contracted with Dr. Jerry Katz of the National Foundation for Energy Education to work directly with our local science instructors to achieve this goal. The NFEE has been wonderfully successful for other MCA Chapters.

sciencepipeline.com

National Industry Website to Educate Students

The Greater Michigan Plumbing and Mechanical Contractors is proud to be one of the founding MCA Chapters developing www.sciencepipeline.com a national industry website to educate the public about the plumbing and mechanical industry.

Outreach to Science Teachers, Counselors, Students and Parents

This educational website will serve as an outreach to science teachers, school counselors, students and parents. The website content and visual demonstrations are being developed by professionals retained by the involved MCA Executives. These professionals consist of Gerald Katz, President of the National Foundation for Energy Education, Chris Stewart, President of Educational Dimensions, Inc., and Jay Bryant of Jay Bryant’s Communications. Their experience and knowledge are being used to develop a website that will be recognized as approved classroom curriculum for use by teachers and students. This will also serve as the pathway for introduction to the school counselors and parents. In addition, onsite demonstrations and programs are offered by the National Foundation for Energy Education. The Plumbing & Mechanical Contractors Association of Detroit is also a founding sponsor of the website.

The website will visually demonstrate internal and thermal energy in motion. It will also provide information about the career opportunities in our industry, the educational requirements necessary to enter, and the excellent wages and benefits. The website training curriculum for teachers will be marketed throughout the country by way of various teaching venues as well as national teacher conferences. These promotional avenues have been identified by our professionals, who are familiar with the appropriate venues. The expected result is to increase the awareness and desirability of working in our industry among the younger people still exploring various career opportunities, via high school, college or trade schools. We have something for everyone!
The program used several demonstrations and video clips, with a professional taking students to the next level in their studies. It shows them the practical application of the science concepts they have studied. The following concepts and applications will be demonstrated and explained:

• The relationship between Newton’s Law of Cooling and thermostat settings,
• Heat flow and the insulation of walls, ceiling, and duct work,
• The cooling effects of evaporation and boiling, and the refrigeration cycle

An HVACR professional from the Greater Michigan PMC will also discuss the technological importance of being able to regulate temperature, and how this ability has changed society. Students will be provided with information about careers in the heating, cooling and refrigeration industry.

HVACR Professionals in the Classroom is sponsored by area industry organizations and is free of charge to schools. HVACR professionals will require the assistance of three student assistants to help prepare demonstrations.

Students will be provided with written instructions in advance of the presentation and will be given a 15-minute hands-on review prior to the program by the presenter. The Detroit PMC is also participating in this program and has already sponsored their first educational program.

The program ties perfectly into the www.sciencepipeline.com website.

The Greater Michigan and Detroit PMC’s sponsored Dr. Katz coming to Michigan Construction Week to do an abbreviated program for Owners and Users, Contractors, and invited Science Teachers.