When Rick Wells, chief executive officer of Marin Builder’s Association, reviewed a recent national survey of homebuilders, he noticed a startling statistic and he thinks it could apply to Marin County.
“For every five construction workers who will retire over the next several years, only one new worker is entering the field,” he says in a press release this week. “That is unsustainable.”
That’s why the Mario Ghilotti Family Foundation’s recent multiyear pledge of $300,000 to expand the successful high school construction training program known as the North Bay Construction Corps could benefit not only students, but also the community and economy.
The program was launched three years ago in Sonoma County and, with the help of funds from the MGFF, expanded to Marin last year.
It’s a five-month training program for high school seniors. Classes meet one night a week and one Saturday a month, and are taught by local construction industry representatives.
Last year, 21 Marin students participated in the semester-long program and 14 graduated from the boot camp, earning a $750 stipend and participating in the job fair for entry-level jobs.
Wells says the Marin chapter is already seeing a growing interest in the program with 27 high school seniors accepted into the program for 2020.
This gives students a sampling of what it’s like to work in a variety of trades and to expose them to multiple employers, Wells says. “They learn the fundamentals of tool handling, safety, electrical, plumbing, carpentry, solar and more. They also earn a variety of certifications recognized by the industry, giving them a significant competitive advantage as they seek entry-level work or further training, such as an apprenticeship.”
The program culminates in a two-week summer boot camp that allows students to practice their skills and to experience first-hand the day-to-day work life in the industry while earning a scholarship.
Along with trade-based technical skills, students learn soft skills such as communication, teamwork, problem solving, leadership and working on deadlines, which are all applied throughout the program.
The Career Technical Education Foundation developed the program and partnered with Marin Builders Association and the Marin County Office of Education for the Marin program. The Mission San Rafael and Sausalito Rotary Clubs and Makita have also supported the program.
For information, contact program coordinator John Paul Butti at 415-450-8382.
Hardest jobt?
Which job in the construction field would you think is the most physically demanding?
Would it be plumbing, electrical, masonry, junk removal, landscaping, roofing, demolition, excavation or drywall and insulation?
Courtesy of Getty Images
Consumers and contractors ranked roofing as one of the most physically demanding trade jobs in CraftJack’s survey.
CraftJack, a contractor lead services platform that connects skilled contractors to project-ready homeowners, wanted to find out.
“CraftJack believed that the American consumer’s perception on contractor jobs was skewed because of the popularity of DIY and home improvement television shows,” says spokesperson Matt Zajechowski. “It’s easy for everyday Americans to misunderstand how much physical labor and hard-earned skill is required for most contractor jobs thanks to the popularity of home improvement television shows.”
So, the company commissioned a survey of 1,609 contractors and 652 consumers in 50 states and asked them to rank 32 different types of contractor work from most-to-least physically demanding, as well as the trades they considered most difficult to master.
It used Amazon Mechanical Turk for the consumer side and emails, and CraftJack’s contractor database for the contractor side.
According to Zajechowski, here’s what the survey found:
• “Both consumers and contractors resoundingly agree that roofing and demolition are the most physically demanding trade jobs.”
• “Consumers and contractors also agreed that electrical, carpentry and HVAC are the three toughest trades to learn and master.”
• “Of all the trades, painters most frequently said their job is the most physically demanding and flooring contractors said their specialty was the most difficult to master.”
So, what does this mean for consumers?
While both consumers and contractors agree that roofing and demolition are the most physically demanding trade jobs and that electrical, carpentry and HVAC are the three most difficult trades to master, the big surprise came in the carpentry category.
Contractors ranked carpentry the third most physically demanding, but consumers ranked it ninth out of all the categories.
Whatever the area of construction, Zajechowski says, “I think an important takeaway for consumers is to realize just how hard these contractor jobs are for most workers, both in terms of brute strength and skilled labor. When you hire someone to paint, it might seem like an easy task for a professional, but it is actually much harder than you might realize.”
For the full report, go to craftjack.com/toolbox/toughest-contractor-jobs.
Don’t-miss events
• Experience FOG Design + Art, a gathering of 48 international galleries, prominent 20th-century and contemporary design dealers, and speakers, this weekend at the Festival Pavilion at Fort Mason Center at 2 Marina Blvd. in San Francisco. The show is open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. Tickets cost $32. Call 415-745-3315 or go to fogfair.com.
• Learn how to prune fruit trees to maximize disease resistance and fruit production from aesthetic pruner Elizabeth Ruiz at the Sloat Garden Center at 11 a.m. Monday at 700 Sir Francis Drake Blvd. in Kentfield (415-454-0262), 2 p.m. Monday at 401 Miller Ave. in Mill Valley (415-388-0365), or 2 p.m. Jan. 25 at 2000 Novato Blvd. in Novato (415-897-2169). Admission is $10. Reservations by telephone are required.
• Discover how to grow berries now, even in small spaces, for a summer bounty. Experts share their tips in a “Berry Delicious” class from 9 to 10 a.m. Jan. 25 at Armstrong Garden Centers at 1430 South Novato Blvd. in Novato. Call 415-878-0493 or go to armstronggarden.com.
• Learn basic bee information, seasonal cycles of a colony, how to get bees and where to place your hive and work with equipment during a beginner beekeeping series taught by Bonnie and Gary Morse of Bonnie Bee & Co. The series consists of two lectures (9 a.m. to noon Jan. 25 and Feb. 1) and one field session (9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. March 21). Rain may postpone the field session to March 28. The series costs $185 or $65 each lecture and $75 for the field session. Lectures are at the Fairfax Backyard Farmer at 135 Bolinas Road in Fairfax. Register at 415-342-5092 or go to fairfaxbackyardfarmer.com.
PJ Bremier writes on home, garden, design and entertaining topics every Saturday and also on her blog at DesignSwirl.co. She may be contacted at P.O. Box 412, Kentfield 94914, or at [email protected].
