Emiliano Sanchez (L) and the Build California booth at an OUSD/Cypress Mandela Skilled Trades Fair.
(AGC of California photo)
Now in its fourth year, Build California continues to advance its vision to create a steady, motivated, and skilled workforce pipeline for California's construction industry.
Helping drive this effort is a team of over 60 Build California Ambassadors who connect with students at school and career events across California each month. Passionate about educating and supporting the next generation of construction workforce, these industry professionals themselves represent many divergent pathways into construction careers. And they are united in a common goal: to inspire interest in the industry by sharing their own journeys and vision for why construction should be considered a top career choice.
"Ambassadors play a crucial role in our Build California program by serving as advocates, educators, and connectors. They help to promote the program's mission, inspire the next generation of builders, and provide guidance to those who are just starting out," commented Senior Build California Manager Abigail Palomares.
"Our Ambassadors bring a wealth of knowledge, experience, and enthusiasm to the program," she added. "They are passionate about sharing their stories and encourage students to explore a path in our industry that best fits their unique interests. By sharing their expertise and career journey, they help to debunk all the misperceptions young people and society have about our industry and reflect how dynamic, rewarding, and impactful the 21st century construction industry is."
To better understand why these Ambassadors choose to invest time and energy promoting the construction industry through Build California and what impact the program has had throughout the state, California Constructor spoke with Salena Durrell with Tradeswomen Inc. and Brad Simmons with Royal Electric, along with the directors of two prominent high school construction Career Technical Education (CTE) programs.
Salena Durrell, Tradeswomen Inc.
The opportunity to collaborate and share resources and connections ranked high among the reasons why Salena Durrell embraced the call to become a Build California Ambassador in the spring of 2021. Serving as the Central Valley program coordinator with Tradeswomen Inc., she had initially become acquainted with Build California and its mission during a workforce event in Fresno two years earlier.
"As someone who has worked hands on in the trades and who is really passionate about educating and spreading the word about blue collar career choices, especially to the youth, I was interested in Build California's Ambassador program when they reached out," she commented. "Since then, it has just been an amazing ride, and we have partnered on quite a few events. Our organizations tend to have many of the same goals."
Durrell is herself a latecomer to the construction industry. She became aware of the many opportunities, great pay and benefits associated with the construction industry in her mid-30s when she was taking a construction class as part of a career retraining program. She applied to and was accepted into the Carpenters Local 152 apprentice training program in 2016 and later, into IUEC Local 8.
"It was literally one of the best decisions that I've ever made," she said. "I got into construction in my 30s, but had I known about it at 18, I would have made that choice a long time ago."
Durrell joined Tradeswomen Inc. in 2019, covering the Fresno, Sacramento and Stockton areas for the grassroots support organization whose mission is "outreach, recruitment, retention and leadership development for women in blue-collar skilled craft." In her current role she has collaborated with Build California on several outreach events, including a recent Rosie the Riveter "Rosie Reimagined" event at Delta College in Stockton this spring, among many others.
Her favorite part of being a Build California Ambassador? "Connecting with the youth" to share the value she has found working in and representing the trades, and the ability to leverage Build California resources to showcase the industry in her own presentations, Durrell said. Her "go-to" statement, adopted from Build California messaging: "Construction doesn't have to be a fallback career; it can be a first-choice career." Durrell estimates she has personally connected with "well over 1000" youth at outreach events during her time as Ambassador.
Brad Simmons, Royal Electric Company
Currently a general superintendent with Royal Electric Company in Sacramento, Brad Simmons began his construction career 24 years ago when he began a five-year ABC electrical apprenticeship program in Northern California. He joined Royal Electric in 2003, moving up through the ranks over the years while working on and overseeing numerous commercial, industrial, multi-family and airport projects.
His company's long and active participation in AGC of California (including CEO Dina Kimble's current two-year stint as president) led Simmons to become more aware of the benefits of active membership in the association and in Build California. Simmons channeled his passion for helping develop construction workforce solutions to become a Build California Ambassador about a year-and-a-half ago.
"Our industry is currently lacking in enough skilled and experienced workers," he commented. "So, it's really encouraging when you get out there and people are interested and following up after we have visits to schools and conversations on these panel discussions (about workforce issues). I've found a lot of people I speak with are intrigued by what we build and the different technologies that we now have in construction. Others are intrigued by the kind of money they can make in a construction career."
Simmons said his message to students and young people is simple: "There are definitely a lot of opportunities in the construction industry. College is a great path, but it doesn't fit everybody. What Build California is trying to do is create more visibility and opportunity for people who are coming out of high school and even college and who don't know about all the career possibilities in construction."
He has participated in a variety of outreach events as Ambassador, from speaking to high school students in the welding and construction programs at Eden Area ROP in Hayward, to participating in a career panel in San Jose this March, to hosting Interns Day on a Royal Electric jobsite, to name a few. He encourages other industry professionals to consider getting involved as a Build California Ambassador like he chose to. "That outreach, getting people to understand what they can achieve by being part of it and bringing really good individuals in to strengthen our industry as a whole, is just really rewarding," Simmons said.
Build California's Impact Evident in Schools
The impact that Build California and its Ambassadors are having in inspiring and activating the next generation of construction workforce is evident in the relationships forged with several Career Technical Education (CTE) programs across California. Two leading examples are Oakland Unified School District's (OUSD) CTE program at Fremont High School in Northern California, led by Emiliano Sanchez, and Fontana High School's Career Connections in Southern California, led by Lamar Hanger.
OUSD's CTE Programs
"Build California has been a very strong supporter of our program," according to Sanchez, director of CTE Trades & Apprenticeships with OUSD. "It has done everything from working with us to bring in guest speakers, to supporting our career events, attending, handing out swag and talking with students about the great career opportunities there are in the trades and construction."
Sanchez is the recipient of AGC of California's 2023 Construction Education Friend Award, which recognized his work with OUSD supporting hands-on learning, the development of CTE pathways, and integration of internships into youth pathways in 18 high schools that serve a total of 9,500 students.
One of the recent events in which Build California was involved was the OUSD/Cypress Mandela Skilled Trades Fair on March 16, 2023. The fair exposed some 290 students and staff from OUSD, San Leandro Unified School District and Eden ROP to a full day of engagement and learning.
Sanchez noted that Build California has been closely involved in working with Fremont High School's CTE program, involving close to 300 students. Ambassadors from AGC of California contractor members Turner, Webcor, Swinerton and others have visited the school to share information with students in the program about various trades and direct pathway opportunities into the construction workforce.
"Giving the students access to some direct entry pathways into the industry and to the people that actually hire is starting to change the narrative," Sanchez said. "The students have been super receptive" when Ambassadors come in to speak, he added. "People have said OUSD is fortunate to have me, but (this program) only works if I have partners like Build California to bring in Ambassadors to connect with our students."
(This article was reprinted with permission from AGC of California's California Constructor Magazine; July/August 2023. All photos courtesy of AGC of California.)
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