June 2, 2017

Program seeks to fill Colorado’s 10,000 construction worker gap

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Colorado’s construction industry is one of the country’s hottest markets, resulting in one huge gap: workers.

The Greeley Tribune reports that the Association of General Contractors in Denver has created a program called Construction Careers Now, which will train people to go into the construction trades and is funded by the state of Colorado.

There is no tuition to get into the four-week program, in which students attend classes at Emily Griffith Technical College in Denver.  At the end of their four weeks, they can participate in a hiring fair where they can meet construction company recruiters to get a job.

With unemployment at 2.3 percent in Colorado, finding workers for the growing construction boom is getting hard, said Michael Gifford, president and CEO of the Association of General Contractors. The most construction workers Colorado ever had was 170,000. That was in 2007.

Colorado needs that much today, but is 10,000 workers shy, Gifford said. The shortage is across the boards — builders for homes, roads and bridges and commercial projects.

Colorado’s construction industry is one of the country’s hottest markets, resulting in one huge gap: workers.

The Greeley Tribune reports that the Association of General Contractors in Denver has created a program called Construction Careers Now, which will train people to go into the construction trades and is funded by the state of Colorado.

There is no tuition to get into the four-week program, in which students attend classes at Emily Griffith Technical College in Denver.  At the end of their four weeks, they can participate in a…

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