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HBAs Receive Grants to Set Up Training Sites
Five home builders associations will receive grants to facilitate training programs in their states under the “Building Today’s Workforce for Tomorrow” program of Home Builders Institute (HBI), the workforce development arm of NAHB, it was announced last week.
HBI received $4.2 million from the Department of Labor under the President’s High Growth Job Training Initiative to finance the effort, in which HBAs will be working with community colleges, local school districts, area employers and workforce development boards to set up a site where young people will be prepared for careers in the home building industry.
Grant recipients are the New York State Builders Association and the Capital Region Builders and Remodelers Association; the North State Building Industry Association of California; the Southern Arizona Home Builders Association; the Builders Association of Eastern Connecticut; and the Builders Association of Metropolitan Pittsburgh.
Five other associations in Florida, Idaho, Kentucky, South Carolina and Virginia were selected earlier this year to participate in the program.
The program’s goal is to recruit 250 participants for each site, where they will receive high-quality, hands-on training in carpentry, electrical wiring, plumbing and HVAC.
HBI and its local partners will also develop an associate’s degree or an equivalent credential that incorporates residential construction skills. The training sites will serve as “best practices” examples that can be replicated around the country.
The goal of HBI’s “Building Today’s Workforce for Tomorrow” effort is to educate young people about the wide range of career opportunities in residential construction and to help meet the rising demand for skilled labor in the industry.
“Construction is not just hard labor. It is skilled labor, using computers and your head. High concentrations of math and science skills are needed,” said Philip LaRocque, executive director of New York’s state builders association. “Many people who start out in the trades go on to own and manage their own businesses,” he added.
For more information, e-mail John Shortt at HBI, or call him at 800-795-7955 x8924.
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