A construction-education program that was intended to train displaced workers has blossomed quickly into its own small vocational school.


Two months ago, the Inland Northwest Associated General Contractors and WorkSource Spokane began offering a seven-week course to retrain displaced employees as construction workers. Established with grant money, the program was set up to teach three groups with a total of 32 students over four months.


The first group hasnt graduated yet, but the AGC already has formed a small vocational school, called the Construction & Industrial Workforce Development Center, to keep the training program going long after the initial grant money runs outand to broaden the programs scope beyond just displaced workers.


Cheryl Patterson, Inland Northwest AGCs director of member services, says that the school, licensed by the state as a private, nonprofit vocational school, will train quickly students who hope to work in construction and help the industry replace its aging work force. The AGC had wanted to start the school even before the grant was attained.


We have to train younger people to come into the profession, Patterson says. Its one of the big trends in AGC chapters nationwide right now.


The aging work force is a national concern, she says.


The construction-education program provides training in 11 skills related to the construction trade. Students earn certifications in many of those skills that make them more attractive to potential employers, Patterson says.


The training areas include construction mathematics, scaffold erection, power-tool safety, combination drivers license (CDL), first aid, basic welding, forklift safety and certification, aerial manlift operator safety and certification, crane signaling and rigging, OSHA certification, and interview instruction.


The course involves 40 hours of instruction a week for seven weeks.


Danny Thiemens, the Inland Northwest AGCs safety director, says some workers who complete the training will go into an apprenticeship program in a specific trade, such as carpentry or electrical work. Others will start work as general laborers for a contractor or for a construction or industrial supplier.


The average starting wage in such fields is $12.65 an hour, Thiemens says. If graduates of the school become part of a unions apprenticeship program, they also can enroll in a pension program and health-insurance plan, making such positions even more desirable, he says.


While the AGC hopes the school will help attract younger workers, the people who are currently enrolled vary in age from 21 to 50, Thiemens says. The students primarily are male, though some women are enrolled, he says.


The first group of students is scheduled to complete the coursework this month, so its unclear as yet how job placement will go for graduates.


Patterson says a number of local union halls are providing some of the training in the specialties, which benefits both the unions and the students.


The unions get the first look at these guys, Patterson says. If they want, they can move them to the top of the wait list.


The first three groups of enrollees, all displaced workers, are being trained in conjunction with the WorkSource Spokane program through a Spokane Area Workforce Development Council grant that covers the tuition for the workers. Cost of the seven-week course otherwise would be $3,450 per student.


WorkSource Spokane is a private-public partnership that acts as a one-stop employment and training center for the Spokane area. The Spokane Area Workforce Development Council oversees WorkSource Spokane and administers employment and training grants.


Future classes will be conducted through the new AGC school. As with current classes, classroom work through the AGC school will be conducted at the Inland Northwest AGC office, at 4935 E. Trent, and hands-on training will be delivered at various locations, including established training facilities at union halls.


Career-counseling services in several communities, including Coeur dAlene, Colville, Kellogg, and others, have committed to send clients to the AGC school and pay for their training, Thiemens says.


Its expected that most of the AGC schools students will come from such organizations, and that most will be receiving unemployment benefits, but the school also will accept students who are seeking such training independently or workers who are sent to the school by their employers. Such students can take the entire seven weeks of coursework or only certain courses.


The school also plans to seek grant money through the federal Workforce Investment Act to help pay tuition for workers who are in apprenticeship programs, Patterson says.


In all, the AGC school hopes to offer six seven-week sessions a year, Patterson says.


The AGC also is considering opening a small center next year in the Tri-Cities to train workers there, she says. Career counseling organizations there are interested in the AGCs program, but unlike cities in North Idaho and some others in Eastern Washington, the Tri-Cities are too far away from Spokane for students to commute back and forth on a daily basis.


Thiemens says the training program has been well-received, because while a number of schools and services offer training in basic construction skills, none covers so many skills in a seven-week course.


If there was the same program offered when I worked (for a construction company), I would have jumped at the chance to put some of my guys in it, he says.