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Conference Celebrates Apprenticeship Training
 Hosted by the U.S. Department of Labor's (DOL) Employment and Training Administration and the American Society for Training & Development Workforce Innovations, the 2007 Workforce Innovations conference will take place in Kansas City from July 17 to 19.
Sponsors of the popular event include Goodwill Industries, ICF International, Career Builder.com and Home Builders Institute (HBI), the workforce development arm of NAHB.
This year’s theme, “Beyond Boundaries,” sets the stage for discussions of how key partners can collaborate to surmount historical, geographical, political and financial obstacles to the creation of the skilled workforce needed to meet the nation’s growing demand for housing.
HBI has partnered with the Department of Labor for more than 30 years through programs and initiatives to develop a qualified and competitive workforce.
 With the support of home builders associations, apprenticeships and pre-apprenticeships have been at the core of a number of these workforce development efforts, including HBI’s Pre-Apprenticeship Certificate Training (PACT), which combines academics with instruction in the trades.
This year marks the 70th anniversary of the signing of the National Apprenticeship Act, which established the Registered Apprenticeship training program, and the occasion will be widely celebrated at the upcoming conference.
“Workforce Innovations 2007 provides an excellent opportunity to put the spotlight on Registered Apprenticeship as a key partner in the workforce investment system,” said Anthony Swoope, administrator, DOL Office of Apprenticeship.
In observation of the anniversary, HBI’s exhibit in the Apprenticeship Plaza area of the Kansas City Convention Center will call attention to the important legacy of the Registered Apprenticeship program. “We are delighted to participate in this historic event and mindful that we need to work harder in educating our members on the benefits of Registered Apprenticeship,” said Tampa builder/developer Bill Paul, chairman of the HBI Board of Trustees.
Two recent initiatives — updated Pre-Apprenticeship Certificate Training (PACT) materials and Sed de Saber™ – Construction Edition, an English as a Second Language (ESL) tool for Spanish speakers — will be among the resources that HBI will be sharing with the nearly 3,000 expected attendees.
Sed de Saber™ – Construction Edition is an easy-to-use, take-home tool that was created by HBI exclusively for the construction industry to improve communication, quality and safety on the job site.
HBI’s industry-sponsored PACT curriculum prepares students to enter the home building workforce.
For more information on the Workforce Innovations conference, click here (workforceinnovations.org); or e-mail Maria McIntyre at HBI, or call her at 800-795-7955 x8912.
Home Builders Institute Offers New Program to Teach Hispanic Adults English
 Sed de Saber™-Construction Edition is an easy-to-use, take-home learning tool created exclusively for the construction industry by the Home Builders Institute to improve communication, quality and safety on the job site.
The product, now available at www.seddesaberconstruction.com, uses proven LeapFrog technology to allow workers to listen, record and play back their pronunciation of more than 500 vocabulary words and 340 phrases. Participants who practice 30 minutes each day will complete the program in just four months. Learning at home, on their own time, also eliminates scheduling conflicts.
 Sed de Saber™-Construction Edition was developed by a team of subject matter experts assembled through HBI — including superintendents, craft skills experts, remodelers and builders — to ensure that the information is relevant to today’s home building workforce. To address worker safety issues related to the language barrier, HBI created a seventh book based entirely on the NAHB-OSHA Job Site Safety Handbook.
NAHB members can purchase the learning system, all seven books and a skills assessment to chart employee progress for $395 per kit. The non-member price is $495. Order today and empower your workers to learn English at www.seddesaberconstruction.com.
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