There is no shortage of activity in Oregon at the moment in addressing the construction industry’s workforce shortage. Schools are creating new construction focused programming, workforce investment boards are investing in new trainings, and new pre-apprenticeship programs are being developed and implemented. This activity is good for our industry, and we want AGC members to not only be aware of these initiatives but be active participants as well.

Over the last two months AGC has organized workforce development meetings on the North Coast and in Southern Oregon. The purpose of these meetings is to bring area stakeholders together to discuss and learn about regional on-going construction-focused workforce development initiatives and projects, and to foster collaboration and partnership across multiple systems with the goal to identify additional opportunities to improve the current and future construction workforce pipeline.

These meetings have included representatives from local workforce investment boards, school districts, community colleges, community-based organizations, and contractors. The engagements have provided not only an opportunity for AGC members to learn about the workforce development activities in their region, but to also identify their concerns in attracting and retaining a skilled workforce. While these conversations are not always easy, they are imperative in ensuring the workforce system is effective and adaptive to meet industry’s needs.

As AGC looks into the second half of 2019 we anticipate organizing additional meetings in other regions of the state, and to also follow-up on the relationships and collaboration that have been born out of the most recent meetings.

Another resource AGC has been actively promoting is Work Now!—the association’s construction focused job board. With summer and construction’s busy season just around the corner, many contractors are looking to bring on additional craft workers. This can be a daunting process given the low unemployment numbers and competition to attract skilled workers form multiple sectors. Utilizing AGC’s Work Now! job board can not only help get your job seen by more people, but you’ll also be leveraging the social media advertising AGC uses to promote posted jobs.

For the last eight months AGC has been on Instagram and Facebook advertising the job board and the construction industry to young adults 16–35 throughout the state of Oregon. These ads have resulted in over 1.25 million impressions—meaning our ads have been seen 1.25 million times within a highly competitive target demographic. And best of all, these services are free to AGC members. For more information contact Aaron Bouchane, or register on the Work Now! site.

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