Findings from the Evaluation of the Newark/Essex Construction Careers Consortium

This PowerPoint presentation highlights the findings from the Heldrich Center's assessment of the Newark/Essex Construction Careers Consortium program

An Evaluation of the Newark/Essex Construction Careers Consortium

In June 2006, the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice (NJISJ) contracted with the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey to conduct an assessment of the Newark/Essex Construction Careers Consortium (N/ECCC) program. The program's primary objective is to improve the employment prospects and earnings of Essex County's low-income residents. The program aims to achieve this goal by preparing its graduates for apprenticeships with one of the county's 17 construction and building trades unions. During the 10-week program, students receive intensive and highly targeted academic preparation in math, reading, and critical thinking; are introduced to the different building trades through hands-on work and site visits; and receive instruction in life skills. After completing the program, graduates apply for apprenticeships with the building trades. NJISJ, in cooperation with a consortium of more than 20 organizations in Essex County, New Jersey, offers the program three times a year to 30-40 students per session with an annual budget of $600,000. The School Construction Corporation provides 75$450,000 on average), and the Prudential Foundation and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey contribute the remaining $150,000 annually. The average cost per participant is approximately$6,000

Detroit is Under Construction: Rebuilding Detroit, Rebuilding Detroiters, A Construction Careers Pipeline that Works

This report represents the culmination of a over a year of research, interviews, and vetting by D4 board andstaff, and is intended to present a snapshot of some of the more pressing issues and opportunities currently at play for the construction careers pipeline in Detroit and surrounding communities. The report explores how to increase opportunities for Detroit residents within the construction industry, identifying ways to address the obstacles that prevent many Detroiters from gaining access to construction careers, proposing a new way to define and monitor "success", and suggesting public policy solutions that will rebuild the broken pipeline into the industry and employmore Detroiters. While we focus on solutions within construction, this report contains some useful parallels for other industries.

Building Opportunity: How States Can Leverage Capital and Infrastructure Investments to Put Working Families on a Path to Good Jobs

Recommends state policies to boost the supply of skilled workers by expanding education and skills development opportunities for low-income, low-skilled adults and strengthening employer demand for and commitment to hiring them at family-sustaining wages

Lessons construction can learn from other sectors

The construction industry is traditionally considered a white, maledominated industry. The UK construction industry is at its busiest for a decade and is suffering from skill shortages in both craft and manual trades, and at the professional level. The issue regarding the lack of women in construction has become more prominent recently, attracting government and industry-wide attention due to this potential skill shortage facing the industry. To meet these targets the industry cannot rely on recruiting the traditional male- dominated workforce. Therefore the UK government is examining ways to encourage women into traditionally male-dominated jobs. Since then a number of initiatives have been introduced promoting construction careers to women; however they have yet to achieve the desired effect. The main aim of this paper is to investigate how the construction industry can successfully recruit and retain professional women by looking at what lessons can be learnt from other sectors such as medicine. Hence this paper looks into other sectors, in particular the medical sector and how it has become an accessible career for women. It also focuses on the culture of other sectors to establish the influence this has over the employment of female professionals

A Short Guide to Setting Up a City Scale Retrofit Program

Buildings represent 38.9% of U.S. primary energy use and 38% of all CO2 emissions in the U.S. Though simple, relatively low-cost measures such as insulation, and lighting upgrades can be done in almost every building to reduce energy use and save money on utility bills, current retrofitting program capacity is limited. Most existing programs are either available only to income-eligible individuals or those with the money up-front to do the work. Furthermore, many current retrofitting programs only create low-wage, short-term jobs rather than providing pathways into sustainable careers in construction and green building. Clearly, a new model is needed. This guide by Green For All and the Center on Wisconsin Strategy provides a model for designing and implementing weatherization and retrofitting programs on a citywide scale, with a goal of making such retrofits available to all and realize their potential to address climate change, put people to work, and reduce our energy bills

Shelter from the Storm: Assessing the Economic Impacts of the Affordable Housing Bond Act of 2016 (SB 879 Beall)

In collaboration with the California Housing Partnership, the research department of the Northern California Carpenters Regional Council (NCCRC) analyzed the economic impacts of the Affordable Housing Bond Act of 2016 (SB 879 Beall).