Commentary: Trades build better construction industry

Daily Journal of Commerce (Portland, OR), Feb 5, 2008 by Tim Gauthier

Recent commentary in The Daily Journal of Commerce suggested the building industry is broken. Certainly, the industry must continue to evolve and improve if it's to adapt to an ever-changing business environment and meet market demands. Fortunately, excellence and innovation readily can be found. And, when widely implemented, they'll propel the industry forward.

Building and maintaining a highly-skilled, efficient work force is a long-standing industry objective. Such a work force pays for itself by ensuring work is done right, on time and on budget. And developing and maintaining skilled workers lowers insurance premiums and litigation.

So, the question is: How do we cultivate a more highly skilled work force, industry-wide, both now and in the future? This is important because it relates to quality and cost management. But it's also critical given the impending labor shortage the industry will face as baby boomers retire.

Gone are the days when we could rely almost exclusively on word- of-mouth to build a skilled work force. Rather, we need to embrace the Internet and new avenues of communication to reach young people today. Although the Internet is by no means new, it is not yet fully employed as an industry recruiting tool.

This year, the National Electrical Contractors Association and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 48 will launch a major educational outreach and recruiting effort targeting teens and young adults through MySpace and other social networking sites. The pilot initiative will harness videos of on-the-job apprentices and an interactive blog to capture and engage this key demographic.

But using the right communication vehicles won't be enough to meet the labor demands of the future. We must also reach out to a broader demographic within the community, including women, ethnic minorities and even older individuals who are dissatisfied with their jobs. We have to appeal to these groups in a way that will resonate and provide the right forums in which to engage them ? a key reason why NECA/IBEW sponsors the annual Women in Trades Career Fair.

The importance of reaching out early, particularly through recruiting programs that give an actual feel for life in the profession, can't be underscored enough. One example of the great work being done is the founding of a new charter school, the Academy for Architecture, Construction and Engineering (ACE). Starting in September, juniors and ultimately seniors at east county high schools will receive trades training as a part of their regular curriculum. The goal is to ignite passion in students while they meet high school graduation requirements.

When individuals enter the trades, we must instill them with the skills they'll need for success. It is a common misconception that working in the trades does not require great knowledge or aptitude. Rather, advanced math is the foundation of trades work. Furthermore, technological innovation and emerging demands for wind and solar power continually require updates to our training curriculum for apprentices as well as seasoned journeymen.

NECA/IBEW meets these training challenges through a state-of-the- art electrical training center. It's a major investment in a skilled work force. We constantly update the center with the latest equipment as well as custom-designed teaching aids. Additionally, NECA/IBEW is implementing a new craft-certification program that combines hands-on testing with traditional paper exams. This is the next level of instruction and testing, and it holds great promise in advancing work quality, cost management and performance. It is also at this stage that safety excellence is fostered.

Over the last decade, businesses of all kinds have invested millions in safety initiatives and programs to protect employees. But more businesses could have better safety records if they took their initiatives beyond the typical three-ring safety manuals. Dynalectric, a NECA electrical contractor with more than 300 employees, did just that.

Dynalectric has recently implemented a dynamic zero-accident program that drives results through creative employee incentives; most recently, the company awarded one lucky employee a new 2008 Chevy Silverado truck. It's a major investment, but the result is that safety is ingrained in workers' daily routines. Dynalectric's mod rate is well-below the industry average, making the company more competitive for business contracts. Businesses that value safety value their people. A safe, well-trained work force is a productive and efficient one.

Another of our industry's priorities is research and development through Electri, the Foundation for Electrical Construction Inc., which provides exemplary management education and supervisory training programs. A recent $1 million donation to Electri from NECA Oregon-Columbia chapter members Buz and Betty Allison, formerly of Oregon Electric, combined with the foundation's $27 million endowment, has allowed Electri to fund 97 research projects designed to analyze industry trends and emerging issues. These efforts keep electrical contractors on the cutting edge of new technology and business practices.