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Team Builders Interns Expand Horizons at Builders’ Show

After completing their internships with Pulte Homes, the 2007 class of Team Builders students traveled to Orlando last month to attend the International Builders’ Show (IBS) and gain a wider understanding of the housing industry. 

A joint effort of the Home Builders Institute (HBI) and the Hispanic Heritage Foundation’s (HHF) Latinos on Fast Track (LOFT) program, Team Builders was created to increase Latino representation in the home building industry’s managerial ranks.

Students participating in the program are introduced to the home building industry and Pulte Homes and then placed at job sites and offices across the country, according to their area of study. The internships give them insights into how a major home building company conducts its day-to-day operations.

At the IBS, Team Builders students worked with Pulte staff members throughout the show to man its Building Careers Job Fair booth and talk to NAHB student members about their internship experience with the home builder.

The students also had time to observe the NAHB Student Chapters Residential Construction Competitions, walk the exhibit floor, attend educational seminars, participate in the Diversity and Inclusion in Construction Luncheon and spend time networking with industry leaders at the job fair. 

“I especially enjoyed sharing my experiences with other LOFT interns, attending workshops, working the Pulte booth as well as seeing all the interesting new products available,” said Mitchel Allen-Rivera, who is studying communications and business at Arizona State University. ”It has provided me with a better understanding of the home building market and customer base.”

Lowe’s Home Improvement will join Pulte Homes in implementing Team Builders internships this summer.

For more information on NAHB Student Chapters, e-mail Page Browning at HBI, or call her at 800-795-7955 x8918.



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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