By Mary ReedCEG CORRESPONDENT

Alarm bells began to ring loudly seven years ago.In 2005 the Construction Labor Research Council warned that with

many workers in the industry of an age when they would retire in thenext decade, unless more apprentices were brought into constructionthere would be a severe shortage in skilled trades such as carpenters,electricians, pipefitters and welders.By 2007 the U.S. Department of Labor was forecasting a 1.5 mil-

lion shortfall of construction workers by 2012. Although the recessionthat followed meant the industry lost jobs, the situation has improvedto a point where Alabama is already seeing fewer craftspersons thanare needed. This problem will be exacerbated as the economy recov-ers, particularly with potential growth in the state’s automobile manu-facturing facilities, anticipated upgradings of infrastructure, and trans-portation and energy projects.Given that the average age of craftspersons now working in con-

struction is 47, and that currently for every four workers who retire orleave the industry only one enters it, the situation will become moreurgent with each passing year.A major factor in the shortage of apprentices in construction is the

current strong focus on college degrees as a path to a successful career,leading to neglect of skilled trades as a viable and equally valuablecareer choice.During his recent testimony to the Senate on the looming crisis,

Mike Rowe, host of the popular TV series Dirty Jobs, noted that“American manufacturing is struggling to fill 200,000 vacant posi-tions. There are 450,000 openings in trades, transportation and utilities.The skills gap is real, and it’s getting wider. In Alabama, a third of allskilled tradesmen are over 55. They’re retiring fast, and no one is thereto replace them. In general, we’re surprised that high unemploymentcan exist at the same time as a skilled labor shortage. We shouldn’t be.We’ve pretty much guaranteed it.”Rowe further explained his position, saying “In high schools the

vocational arts have all but vanished.We’ve elevated the importance of‘higher education’ to such a lofty perch that all other forms of knowl-edge are now labeled ‘alternative.’ Millions of parents and kids seeapprenticeships and on-the- job-training opportunities as ‘vocationalconsolation prizes,’ best suited for those not cut out for a four-yeardegree. And still, we talk about millions of ‘shovel ready’ jobs for asociety that doesn’t encourage people to pick up a shovel.”How then to meet the challenge of revitalizing an aging work force

by overcoming young persons’ apparent lack of interest in constructioncareers?The Alabama Legislature moved by passing Act 220 creating the

Alabama Construction Recruitment Institute (ACRI) during its 2010session. Funded by an employer fee of $150 per $100,000 of payroll

Alabama Moves to Deal With Shortage of Apprentices

ALABAMA STATE EDITION A Supplement to:

Your Alabama Connection • Rich Olivier, Atlanta, GA • 1-800-409-1479

“The Nation’s Best Read Construction Newspaper… Founded in 1957.”

see SHORTAGE page 6

TV host Mike Rowe (C) , whose own Web site www.mikeroweworks.com helped provide resources forthe Go Build Web site, described the latter as “built to champion skilled labor.”

March 72012

Vol. XXIIV • No. 5Mobile

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Page 2 • March 7, 2012 • www.constructionequipmentguide.com • Alabama State Supplement • Construction Equipment Guide

Birmingham, AL205-841-6666

Mobile, AL251-633-4020

Montgomery, AL334-262-6642

Huntsville / Decatur, AL256-350-0006

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Birmingham, AL205-841-6666

Mobile, AL251-633-4020

Montgomery, AL334-262-6642

Huntsville / Decatur, AL256-350-0006

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Page 4 • March 7, 2012 • www.constructionequipmentguide.com • Alabama State Supplement • Construction Equipment Guide Construction Equipment Guide • Alabama State Supplement • www.constructionequipmentguide.com • March 7, 2012 • Page 5

Page 6 • March 7, 2012 • www.constructionequipmentguide.com • Alabama State Supplement • Construction Equipment Guide

Montgomery • Jefferson • Talladega • Calhoun • Russell • Walker • Lawrence • Dekalb • Morgan • St. Clair • Tuscaloosa • Morgan • Shelby• Bibb •Hale • Fayette • Marion • Winston • Cullman • Shelby • Chilton • Chambers • Covington • Baldwin • Clarke • Monroe • St. Clair• Chilton • Escambia• Montgomery • Jefferson • Russell • Fayette • Conecuh • Coffee • Geneva • Montgomery • Jefferson • Talladega •Bibb • Coffee • Calhoun • Russell • • Walker• Lawrence• Dekalb • Morgan • St. Clair • Tuscaloosa • Bibb• Hale • Fayette • Monroe •Clarke • Winston • Cullman • Shelby • Chilton • Chambers • Covington • Baldwin • Clarke • Monroe • Montgomery • Jefferson • Talladega

Alabama…

‘The Yellowhammer State’ Highway Project Lettings The Alabama State Department ofTransportation received bids for trans-portation-related improvement projects.Following is a list of some of theprojects let.

County: FranklinContract ID:APD-0355(506)Project: Partial grade and drain and baseand pavement on SR-24 (Corridor V) fromSR-247 east of Red Bay to CR-21.Distance: 7.85 mi.Contractors and Bid Amounts:• Rogers Group Inc. — $13,900,275• Apac Mid-South Inc. — $14,390,301

County: WalkerContract ID: BRZ-6400(210)Project: Bridge replacement and approach-es on Ripley Cutoff Road at Lost Creekeast of Carbon Hill.Distance: .23 mi.Contractors and Bid Amounts:• Riley Bridge & Engineering

Company Inc. — $1,081,109

• Bob Smith Construction Inc. —$1,282,626• Alabama Bridge Builders Inc. —

$1,294,335

County: CrenshawContract ID’s:HSIP-0010(533) and 99-307-215-010-101Project: Planing, resurfacing and trafficstripe on SR-10 (U.S.-29) from east ofLuverne (MP 150.343) to the Pike CountyLine.Distance: 6.86 mi.Contractors and Bid Amounts:• Apac Mid-South Inc. — $1,966,776• Wiregrass Construction Company Inc.

— $1,967,578

County: CoosaContract ID’s:HSIP-0021(536) and 99-304-191-021-101Project: Planing, resurfacing and trafficstripe on SR-21 (U.S.-231) from 0.1 mi.south of Smith Street in Rockford to 1.3mi. south of the Hatchett Creek Bridge.Distance: 3.25 mi.

Contractors and Bid Amounts:• Wiregrass Construction Company Inc.

— $2,199,973• Gary Ingram Grading & Paving Inc.

— $2,212,608• Apac Mid-South Inc. — $2,688,079

County: HoustonContract ID’s:HSIP-0095(501) and 99-307-351-095-101Project: Resurfacing and traffic stripe onSR-95 from south of Boat Landing Road inGordon to SR-52.Distance: 11.41 mi.Contractors and Bid Amounts:• Apac Mid-South Inc. — $4,492,063• Lewis Inc. — $4,773,606• Wiregrass Construction Company Inc.

— $5,078,717

Counties: Etowah and MarshallContract ID’s:HSIP-0179(502), HSIP-0179(503), 99-301-285-179-104 & 99-301-484-179-101Project: Planing, resurfacing and trafficstripe on SR-179 from SR-74 (U.S.-278)

(MP 0.000) northwest of Attalla to SR-168(mp 10.430) at Boaz.Distance: 9.55 mi.Contractors and Bid Amounts:• Whitaker Contracting Corporation —

$2,199,817• Good Hope Contracting Company

Inc. — $2,266,776• McCartney Construction Company

Inc. — $2,979,993

County: MobileContract ID’s:HSIP-CN11(905) and 99-309-491-665-105Project: Planing, resurfacing and trafficstripe on I-65 east and west service roadsfrom SR-42 (U.S.-98) to SR-17 (U.S.-45)and from SR-16 (U.S.-90) to SR-17 inPrichard.Distance: 12.81Contractors and Bid Amounts:• Hosea O. Weaver & Sons Inc. —

$2,528,243• Mobile Asphalt Company LLC —

$2,565,816• John G. Walton Construction

Company Inc. — $2,786,308

‘Go Build’ Changes Perception of Construction Careersfor workers below the foreman orsupervisor level, the amount gener-ated will be $1.75 million per year.The aim of the Institute is three-fold: to provide highly skilledcraftspersons for construction andbetter opportunities for these work-ers, as well as enhancing econom-ic development in Alabama.As part of its outreach effort, the

ACRI oversees the award-winningGo Build Alabama campaign,which furthers its goals of educat-ing young persons about trade andcareer opportunities within con-struction, correcting misconcep-tions about the industry and pro-viding resources for those interest-ed in joining it. According to GoBuild Alabama data, constructionis expected to grow by a projected19 percent rate through 2018, mak-ing skilled trades an attractivecareer prospect for young workers.Even in the relatively short time

Go Build Alabama has been inexistence, the project has proved aremarkable success.

ACRI has already seen morethan 56,000 visits to the Go BuildAlabama Web site and visitorshave made 159,000 page views.Ninety-nine percent of visitors saythey find the site useful or veryuseful, and more than 3,500 indi-viduals have already registered inits career database.Based on the number of views

of specific trade occupations, thetop five careers of interest to visi-tors are:• Electricians (20.2 percent)• Plumbers (14.6 percent)• Welders (13.6 percent)• Construction carpenters (11.3

percent)• Boilermakers (10.4 percent)“We have hard data that the Go

Build Alabama marketing, com-munication and public relationscampaign has been successful indriving prospective constructionworkers to the Go Build Web site.Of course, we’ve only been inoperation for a year so it will takemore time and tracking to deter-mine long-term impacts,” said TimAlford, executive director of the

Alabama ConstructionRecruitment Institute.Auburn University at

Montgomery’s Center for Businessis currently conducting the firstannual external evaluation of pro-gram outcomes, which the ACRIplans to build on each year.“The Go Build campaign has

shown that it can change misper-ceptions on the part of students andtheir influencers in relation to con-struction careers in the construc-tion industry [e.g. wages, benefits,working conditions]. Perhaps evenmore important, the program hasdemonstrated its ability to changeattitudes toward constructioncareers,” Alford stated. “As MikeRowe says, we are increasingly let-ting people know that ‘construc-tion careers’ are not alternatives togood careers — they are goodcareers.“We don’t yet have the data on

long-term impacts but it stands toreason that if we are getting morepeople to consider commercial andindustrial construction careers,more are learning where they can

get education and training in thesecareers, and more are enrolling intraining programs, then we arelikely to have more skilled trades-men five years from now and intothe foreseeable future. Of course,all of this will accelerate when theeconomy does,” Alford pointedout.As part of its outreach efforts,

Go Build Alabama was present at25 career or college fairs reachingmore than 25,000 Alabama stu-dents to introduce the campaignthrough grassroots efforts last year.The campaign also is usingstatewide television, print andonline advertisements to driveinterested parties to theGoBuildAlabama.com Web site.TV host Rowe, whose own Web

site www.mikeroweworks.comhelped provide resources for theGo Build Web site, described thelatter as “built to champion skilledlabor.” Given that neither a skilledtrade nor a college education guar-antees a job, as he sees it, the valueof an education comes with theskill learned, for once a skill is

acquired, the person acquiring itwill always possess it. “Not allknowledge comes from college,but skill is a matter of degree,”Rowe said.The purpose of Rowe’s Web site

and PR campaign “for hard workand skilled labor” is to call atten-tion to the growing skills gap in thetrades, and provide comprehensiveresources for anyone looking toexplore those vocations, as well asto focus the country on the veryreal issues facing trade workers,miners and farmers. In addition tothe trade resource center, Roweestablished ThemikeroweWORKS Foundation tohelp fund scholarship programsand other initiatives that reinvigo-rate trade school enrollments andindustrial arts programs around thecountry.For more information, visit

www.mikeroweWORKS.com. (This story also can be found

on Construction EquipmentGuide’s Web site at www.con-structionequipmentguide.com.)CEG

SHORTAGE from page 1

Construction Equipment Guide • Alabama State Supplement • www.constructionequipmentguide.com • March 7, 2012 • Page 7

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