The Columbus Building & Construction Trades Council (CBCTC), its affiliated unions and community partners hosted a construction trades career fair on Thursday, January 26, 2017. The CBCTC partnered with Columbus City Schools, Central Ohio Workforce Investment Corporation, Ohio Means Jobs, the City of Columbus, and the Ohio State Apprenticeship Council. The event was a tremendous success with over 300 high school students and young adults in attendance. Building Trades representatives were on hand to discuss union-affiliated apprenticeship programs and provided live demonstrations of bricklaying, electrical, and sheet metal related skills.
“Our community partners did an excellent job in reaching out to a diverse group of young people in our community about this event. Our affiliates did a great job providing information about their apprenticeship programs and provided hands-on demonstrations for the attendees,” said Dorsey Hager the Executive Secretary of the CBCTC. “Many of our current members are nearing retirement and we are focused on recruiting the next generation of skilled construction professionals. That is why events like this career fair are critical towards building our membership and local workforce,” said Hager.
According to the Ohio Apprenticeship Council, over 80% of registered apprentices in Ohio are enrolled in union-affiliated programs. These programs provide students with the highest caliber construction training available. Most programs require 4-5 year to complete and combine both on the job and classroom training. All union-affiliated programs are tuition free and apprentices earn while they learn, as they are paid for working on construction job sites as a part of their training. Many programs provided apprentices with an associate’s degree from Columbus State Community College upon graduation.
CBCTC plans to continue to work with its affiliates and community partners to actively recruit a diverse next generation of skilled construction trades professionals in Central Ohio.
