Georgia Construction Today - First Quarter 2009 - (Page 13)

feature Breaking the Cycle of Workforce Insanity High school students get ready for the TeamWorks contest at the CEFGA Expo and SkillsUSA Championships, underwritten in part by Georgia Branch, AGC and its member firms. Photo credit: Floyd Grimm. By Scott Shelar, Executive Director, CEFGA Consider this a grand opportunity for the construction industry! What we’ve always done during tough economic times – it seems – is we quickly slash our workforce and burn any plans for workforce development. Then, when good times return, we wring our hands and wonder why we don’t have a workforce. The deﬁnition of insanity is to keep doing things the same way and expect different results. We have an opportunity to do things differently this time. We have a grand opportunity to work through this tough economy and come out on the other side with the skilled, motivated workforce we need. Here is how we will do it and why it makes good business sense for your company to be involved. work side-by-side with some of the best construction professionals in the nation. AGC/CEFGA Workforce Alliances One of the best ways to break the cycle and ensure your company has the skilled, motivated workforce it needs is to get involved with your local AGC/CEFGA Workforce Alliance. In short, these Alliances work to match local industry resources with local school needs, speciﬁcally construction training programs. In return, local industry is able to tap into their community schools for top talent. This Alliance model is working well in Albany, Macon and Valdosta. Plans are underway to establish additional Alliances in other cities. Beyond the great recruiting tool these Alliances can become, they are also a wonderful opportunity for community involvement and relationship building with other construction professionals. The CEFGA Expo and SkillsUSA Championships – April 16-17, 2009 We are expanding the CEFGA Expo and SkillsUSA Championships to reach more than 6,000 people in April 2009. Program leaders are working to make it the best hands-on, interactive Construction Expo and SkillsUSA State Championships ever. We are building on the success of previous year’s events by enhancing the experience for all attendees and especially our primary target: middle school and high school students from across Georgia. This year's venue – the Georgia International Convention Center – will help us take this event to the next level! Why does it make good business sense for your company to be involved? More than 1,000 industry professionals from approximately 200 ﬁrms attend and/or participate in this annual event. This is a great opportunity to promote your industry and brand your company with the next generation of workers. It is also a great opportunity to network and CEFGA Summer Internship for High School Students It may be difﬁcult to imagine hiring a high school intern when our current market has many ﬁrms laying off full-time employees, but there are at least two reasons to consider it. First, it is a minimal ﬁnancial commitment. When you are looking at a competitive salary package for a full-time employee, the $3,500 investment for a high school summer intern is considerably less. Most companies get at least this much productivity out of their interns, and they are able to preview a potentially hard-working full-time employee in the process. Second, hiring a high school summer intern is a great way to brand your company with not only that student, but with the entire community. Kids talk to their parents. Parents talk 13 Georgia CONSTRUCTION TODAY FIRST QUARTER 2009

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Georgia Construction Today - First Quarter 2009 Contents Message from the President Leading in Tough Economic Times Breaking the Cycle of Workforce Insanity Chapter’s Workers’ Compensation Program Delivers Greater Value with Multi-State Coverage Am I Getting Enough from My Insurance Broker? Change Has Arrived: Georgia’s New Lien Law Index to Advertisers

Georgia Construction Today - First Quarter 2009

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