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Landscaping Students Graduate From Project CRAFT
At its first formal graduation ceremony, Home Builders Institute's (HBI) Project CRAFT – St. Petersburg recently honored landscaping students Keith Allen, Josiah Benovic and William Balkovic for completing their industry-sponsored Pre-Apprenticeship Certificate Training and preparing themselves for employment in the building industry.
HBI’s Project CRAFT is a skilled trades training program designed to help troubled youths turn their lives around.
Tampa Bay Builders Association (TBBA) President Jeffery Ewing and Executive Vice President Joseph Narkiewicz and 2007 HBI Vice Chair and Florida builder Bill Paul were among the members of the community attending the ceremony to offer strong words of encouragement to the young graduates.
Representatives from the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, the Pinellas County School Board and Dropout Prevention were also on hand to demonstrate their support.
Paul has played a vital role in the growth of Project CRAFT in Florida, where HBI now operates five training sites. He also brought HBI's Project TRADE adult offender rehabilitation program to the state.
National HBI staff members took a moment at the graduation ceremony to recognize Paul for his contribution to Project CRAFT’s growth and success.
"I attend as many of these Project Craft graduation ceremonies as I am able to," said Paul. "No matter how many students are graduating, four or 14, it never fails to remind folks that what we do as an industry through this program is making a difference, and I am very proud to be part of it."
Project CRAFT has been recognized by members of the U.S. Congress as a model intervention program for adjudicated youth, and its graduates average an 85% placement rate. HBI, the workforce development arm of NAHB, operates Project CRAFT training programs at seven sites in Florida and Tennessee.
For more information on Project CRAFT, e-mail Dennis Torbett at HBI, or call him at 800-795-7955 x8908.
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