About Career Days

The Construction Career Days initiative developed by the FHWA has proven highly successful in promoting the transportation industry and the careers it offers to America’s youth. Since the initiative started in 1999, it has grown to a national program. As of 2005, approximately half of the states in the country were hosting events and over 149,000 students had participated. The feedback received is that the events are beneficial to the students and to the industry. Program Background During the latter part of 1997, Mike LaPointe, Greg Mooney, Humberto Martinez and Ross Martinez began informal discussions on the severe shortage of skilled workers in the highway construction industry. The shortage had become manifest in the form of reduced quality and a decrease in the number of bidders submitting quotes for highway projects in Texas. Further discussions focused on strategies to address the shortage. Greg Mooney suggested the idea of marketing the construction industry and career opportunities within it, among high school students. Thus the idea for the 'Highway Construction Career Days' events was born. The original group of four grew rapidly as other persons interested in the concept and equally concerned about the work force shortages joined the group and volunteered to help in organizing the first event. The group planned and scheduled the first event without any specific funding sources identified. Group members contributed funds, equipment, time, and talent to make the event a success. Mike LaPointe, Vice President of J.L. Steel and his wife Jan LaPointe, devoted countless hours and contributed invaluable company resources and personnel to the project. The Associated General Contractors of Texas (AGC) provided the facilities for the group meetings and contributed $25,000. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) contributed $5,000 and two of its employees, Humberto and Ross Martinez. The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) contributed a significant number of employees to ride the buses with the students to the career days site and provide them with an overview of highway construction. Still other TxDOT employees worked at the career fair site during each of the four days of the event. Equipment distributors and individual construction firms donated equipment and operators to demonstrate the equipment. Each member of the Work Group was actively involved throughout the entire event from planning through completion. Some group members focused on planning the event’s details, including site design and layout, event activities, media publicity, and exhibitor participation. Other members involved themselves in logistics including securing construction equipment for static and operational display, site security, tent, electricity, lunches for participants and volunteers, transportation and parking. Still other members spent a considerable amount of time marketing the event to school administrators in the various school districts in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. The First Construction Career Day The first Construction Career Fair was held March 2-5, 1999, in Lewisville, Texas, at Granite Construction Company’s yard. Approximately 1,300 students and teachers from 25 schools representing 15 school districts attended the event. The event was a resounding success based on the feedback received from students and educators that participated. Many participants recommended that the event be held annually. Due to the success of the Lewisville event, the Work Group decided to expand the concept to other parts of Texas and Arkansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Louisiana. In 1999, a meeting of representatives from the AGC, individual firms, FHWA, and the State Departments of Transportation in the aforementioned States was held in Fort Worth to build upon the Lewisville Career Days success. Attendees at the meeting agreed to develop and submit a unified five-state proposal to the FHWA to fund Career Day events in the five states. The FHWA provided $200,000 for the Work Group to conduct eight events (4 in Texas and one in each of the other four States). From this modest beginning, Construction Career Days has spread throughout the country. The events have served to improve the image of the construction industry while providing high school and college students a broad array of rewarding and diverse career opportunities. The Need for New Workers By the year 2008, there will be 952,000 net construction skilled, trade jobs VACANT.  And, we will need 1 million+ new people each and every year thereafter. Presently, the average age of workers in the skilled trades nationwide is 48. Those born during 1945-1950, the first wave of baby boomers, will start retiring in 2010-2015. Thirty seven (37) out of every 100 jobs (by 2005) will be service technology.