NCCER Board Meeting in Florida
From Minnesota, my marathon continued to Florida to end the week. I attended a meeting of the Board of Trustees of the National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER) in Lake Buena Vista. My first day there included work on a special task force to look at education and work force development issues. I also participated in the board meeting, and I gave a presentation on the 2011 SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference. The NCCER Board of Trustees will hold its summer meeting in Kansas City on June 22 in conjunction with the SkillsUSA national conference. The NCCER board roster includes several major commercial contractors and corporations. Hosting the board meeting will give us an opportunity to showcase SkillsUSA to many of these companies for the first time.
On Friday, we focused on a national image campaign to recruit, train, place and retain workers in the construction industry. It’s called “Choose Construction.” About 15 major employers talked about the need for recruits with a work ethic, time-management, teamwork, adaptability, problem-solving and communication skills. One statistic used during this meeting: two million workers lost jobs in construction during the economic downturn, but it’s expected there will be a huge need for skilled workers when the economy turns up.
