Alabama #5, 2012 by Construction Equipment Guide

ALABAMA STATE EDITION

231

72 Florence

Huntsville

20 Decatur

565 59

A Supplement to:

231

431

Gadsden

78 59 Anniston

Birmingham Bessemer

82 Tuscaloosa

65 280

20 82 Auburn

Selma

Phenix City

Montgomery

March 7 2012

231

43 84 431 331

84 52

Vol. XXIIV • No. 5

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

Dothan

65 98

Mobile

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

Alabama Moves to Deal With Shortage of Apprentices By Mary Reed CEG 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 the next decade, unless more apprentices were brought into construction there 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 million shortfall of construction workers by 2012. Although the recession that followed meant the industry lost jobs, the situation has improved to a point where Alabama is already seeing fewer craftspersons than are needed. This problem will be exacerbated as the economy recovers, particularly with potential growth in the state’s automobile manufacturing facilities, anticipated upgradings of infrastructure, and transportation and energy projects. Given that the average age of craftspersons now working in construction is 47, and that currently for every four workers who retire or leave the industry only one enters it, the situation will become more urgent 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 valuable career 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 positions. 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 all skilled tradesmen are over 55. They’re retiring fast, and no one is there to replace them. In general, we’re surprised that high unemployment can 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 knowledge are now labeled ‘alternative.’ Millions of parents and kids see apprenticeships and on-the- job-training opportunities as ‘vocational consolation prizes,’ best suited for those not cut out for a four-year degree. And still, we talk about millions of ‘shovel ready’ jobs for a society 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 construction careers? The Alabama Legislature moved by passing Act 220 creating the Alabama Construction Recruitment Institute (ACRI) during its 2010 session. Funded by an employer fee of $150 per $100,000 of payroll see SHORTAGE page 6

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

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

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Construction Equipment Guide • Alabama State Supplement • www.constructionequipmentguide.com • March 7, 2012 • Page 3

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Birmingham, AL 205-841-6666

Mobile, AL 251-633-4020

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Montgomery, AL 334-262-6642

Huntsville / Decatur, AL 256-350-0006

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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

‘Go Build’ Changes Perception of Construction Careers SHORTAGE from page 1

for workers below the foreman or supervisor level, the amount generated will be $1.75 million per year. The aim of the Institute is threefold: to provide highly skilled craftspersons for construction and better opportunities for these workers, as well as enhancing economic development in Alabama. As part of its outreach effort, the ACRI oversees the award-winning Go Build Alabama campaign, which furthers its goals of educating young persons about trade and career opportunities within construction, correcting misconceptions about the industry and providing resources for those interested in joining it. According to Go Build Alabama data, construction is expected to grow by a projected 19 percent rate through 2018, making skilled trades an attractive career prospect for young workers. Even in the relatively short time Go Build Alabama has been in existence, the project has proved a remarkable success.

ACRI has already seen more than 56,000 visits to the Go Build Alabama Web site and visitors have made 159,000 page views. Ninety-nine percent of visitors say they find the site useful or very useful, and more than 3,500 individuals have already registered in its career database. Based on the number of views of specific trade occupations, the top five careers of interest to visitors 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, communication and public relations campaign has been successful in driving prospective construction workers to the Go Build Web site. Of course, we’ve only been in operation for a year so it will take more time and tracking to determine long-term impacts,” said Tim Alford, executive director of the

Alabama Construction Recruitment Institute. Auburn University at Montgomery’s Center for Business is currently conducting the first annual external evaluation of program outcomes, which the ACRI plans to build on each year. “The Go Build campaign has shown that it can change misperceptions on the part of students and their influencers in relation to construction careers in the construction industry [e.g. wages, benefits, working conditions]. Perhaps even more important, the program has demonstrated its ability to change attitudes toward construction careers,” Alford stated. “As Mike Rowe says, we are increasingly letting people know that ‘construction careers’ are not alternatives to good careers — they are good careers. “We don’t yet have the data on long-term impacts but it stands to reason that if we are getting more people to consider commercial and industrial construction careers, more are learning where they can

get education and training in these careers, and more are enrolling in training programs, then we are likely to have more skilled tradesmen five years from now and into the foreseeable future. Of course, all of this will accelerate when the economy does,” Alford pointed out. As part of its outreach efforts, Go Build Alabama was present at 25 career or college fairs reaching more than 25,000 Alabama students to introduce the campaign through grassroots efforts last year. The campaign also is using statewide television, print and online advertisements to drive interested parties to the GoBuildAlabama.com Web site. TV host Rowe, whose own Web site www.mikeroweworks.com helped provide resources for the Go Build Web site, described the latter as “built to champion skilled labor.” Given that neither a skilled trade nor a college education guarantees a job, as he sees it, the value of an education comes with the skill learned, for once a skill is

acquired, the person acquiring it will always possess it. “Not all knowledge comes from college, but skill is a matter of degree,” Rowe said. The purpose of Rowe’s Web site and PR campaign “for hard work and skilled labor” is to call attention to the growing skills gap in the trades, and provide comprehensive resources for anyone looking to explore those vocations, as well as to focus the country on the very real issues facing trade workers, miners and farmers. In addition to the trade resource center, Rowe established The mikeroweWORKS Foundation to help fund scholarship programs and other initiatives that reinvigorate trade school enrollments and industrial arts programs around the country. For more information, visit www.mikeroweWORKS.com. (This story also can be found on Construction Equipment Guide’s Web site at www.constructionequipmentguide.com.) CEG

Montgomery • Jefferson • Talladega • Calhoun • Russell • Walker • Lawrence • Dekalb • Morgan • St. Clair • Tuscaloosa • Morgan • Shelby •Alabama… 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

‘The Yellowhammer State’ Highway Project Lettings

The Alabama State Department of Transportation received bids for transportation-related improvement projects. Following is a list of some of the projects let. County: Franklin Contract ID: APD-0355(506) Project: Partial grade and drain and base and pavement on SR-24 (Corridor V) from SR-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: Walker Contract ID: BRZ-6400(210) Project: Bridge replacement and approaches on Ripley Cutoff Road at Lost Creek east 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: Crenshaw Contract ID’s: HSIP-0010(533) and 99307-215-010-101 Project: Planing, resurfacing and traffic stripe on SR-10 (U.S.-29) from east of Luverne (MP 150.343) to the Pike County Line. Distance: 6.86 mi. Contractors and Bid Amounts: • Apac Mid-South Inc. — $1,966,776 • Wiregrass Construction Company Inc. — $1,967,578 County: Coosa Contract ID’s: HSIP-0021(536) and 99304-191-021-101 Project: Planing, resurfacing and traffic stripe on SR-21 (U.S.-231) from 0.1 mi. south of Smith Street in Rockford to 1.3 mi. 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: Houston Contract ID’s: HSIP-0095(501) and 99307-351-095-101 Project: Resurfacing and traffic stripe on SR-95 from south of Boat Landing Road in Gordon 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 Marshall Contract ID’s: HSIP-0179(502), HSIP0179(503), 99-301-285-179-104 & 99301-484-179-101 Project: Planing, resurfacing and traffic stripe 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: Mobile Contract ID’s: HSIP-CN11(905) and 99309-491-665-105 Project: Planing, resurfacing and traffic stripe on I-65 east and west service roads from SR-42 (U.S.-98) to SR-17 (U.S.-45) and from SR-16 (U.S.-90) to SR-17 in Prichard. Distance: 12.81 Contractors 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

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

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Page 8 • March 7, 2012 • www.constructionequipmentguide.com • Alabama State Supplement • Construction Equipment Guide