California Construction College
November 4th, 2008 Posted in BlogFor all the bad economic news we’re hearing daily about the U.S. economy, we at PRx had the opportunity to put forth some very exciting news that will have a permanent positive effect for multiple sectors of our workforce.
We coordinated the launch of the California Construction College, which has been a labor of love for Neil Struthers, labor chief, for nearly four years.
The College makes possible a Bachelor of Science degree for those who choose construction as a career, and it does so in innovative ways.
One development of recent years that has been less than helpful to many students is the parallel action of eliminating “shop” or industrial development from high school curricula while simultaneously putting out a message that college should be a goal for all students regardless of their aptitude or interest. What’s being recognized now is that many graduating high school students either need or want to go to work right away. Before California Construction College was created, these students would begin work “in the trades” and generally stay there, prohibited by lack of higher education from rising to middle or top management, at least in big construction companies.
Now, after years of planning and collaborating among the Unions, educators, contractors, developers and others who are trying to improve the economy and the lives of Americans, a new model is being launched that permits high school grads to work in the trades for a few years to gain an apprenticeship, then go to California Construction College where their past work will be recognized for some college credits, and their academic career will begin to provide them the knowledge they need to grow to the next level in mid-management or upper management.
Now, that’s helping the workforce from the “bottom up,” to use a popular label. However, California Construction College also provides a new career path from the other direction, for those who’ve been in the labor pool, working daily, year after year, but, again, with no way to a desk job because they didn’t get the academic exposure required. To create an example of how this works, let’s imagine a guy named Sam who became a roofer at the age of 18. Problem is Sam is still a roofer at the age of 36 and his body has taken a bit of a beating over the years. Sam’s new option, thanks to the California Construction College, is to go back to school and learn how to do the things he didn’t learn, like how to budget for the roofing jobs, how to create timelines, how to deal with bank loans, how to hire employees and and grow a business. Sam has lots of choices now because California Construction College will provide some college credits for the knowledge he gained on the job over the years, plus help him fulfill the academic requirements to get a Bachelor of Science degree. Once in hand, Sam can become a teacher at California Construction College, or seek a middle management job in a roofing company where he’ll be an expert, or even start his own company.
The California Construction College is a model program that will be replicated in certain other community colleges throughout California, and plans exist to roll out the program nationally through the National Labor College which is the official entity that bestows the 4 year Bachelor of Science degree in the community college setting, which is traditionally a 2 year degree. Thanks to its statewide and national promise, the event brought John Duncan, Director of California’s Department of Industrial Relations.
PRx helped create and coordinate the small launch event on October 23rd to spread the news. We helped with the op-ed piece authored by Chancellor Rosa Perez and businessman Tony Mirenda of TBI Construction. We created the theme “Nailing Down The Future” and the collateral pieces that helped attract people to the event. On the “Day Of,” in addition to event logistics and coordination, we had some wonderful press coverage. KGO Channel 7’s Karina Rusk came with cameraman Guy Hall, KTVU’s Robert Handa came, plus Mike Colgan of KCBS Radio and Rob Artigo of KGO Radio.
KGO 7: Article and Video
KCBS Radio: Article and Mike Colgan report
And, it was a great boon for the event to have Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren, California State Assemblyman Joe Coto and Liz Kniss, incoming chair of the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, attend the event.
We had the good fortune to work with some great folks on this assignment. In addition to the “job boss” Neil Struthers, we worked with Kathy Werle, Ph. D., Carole Cassidy, and Rosa Perez, Chancellor of the San Jose City/Evergreen City College District.
Right now, our Daniel Garza, formerly of NBC11, is putting the finishing touches on a video we are doing of the event and the California Construction College itself. We’ll post the video soon.
