|
Training Official Meets With HBI Board of Trustees
At the June 8 spring meeting of the board of trustees of the Home Builders Institute, the workforce development arm of NAHB, Emily Stover DeRocco, assistant secretary for the Employment and Training Administration (ETA), discussed several topics of interest to the home building industry, including the successful launch of Sed de Saber™-Construction Edition.
Introduced to the Sed de Saber™ system last year in English as a Second Language (ESL) training for workers in the hospitality business, DeRocco saw that it would also be a valuable tool for the construction industry and helped connect HBI to its developers, California-based Retention Education, LLC.
In her remarks to the HBI trustees, DeRocco also voiced enthusiasm for the transfer of the YouthBuild program from the Department of Housing and Urban Development the Department of Labor under the ETA umbrella.
HBI currently provides the YouthBuild program with technical assistance in construction skills training through its Pre-Apprenticeship Certificate Training (PACT) and will seek to continue serving the program’s young clients at its new home.
HBI trustees and representatives from five of the 10 states funded by HBI’s grant under the President’s High Growth Job Training Initiative spoke about their efforts and inquired about new funds to replicate these programs.
DeRocco also addressed the congressional transfer last year of Job Corps from ETA to the Department of Labor’s Office of the Secretary, voicing disappointment over the move, citing the program’s 40 years of success under her agency.
“It was an honor to have Assistant Secretary DeRocco attend our board meeting,” said HBI Chairman William Paul, a builder and developer from Tampa, Fla. “Her visit was timely and warmly received by the board. Our partnership with the Department of Labor is a critical component of what we do at HBI, generating programs that serve as a beacon of hope for thousands every year.”
For more information on HBI’s programs, e-mail Maria McIntyre, 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.
|
