Georgia Contractor (September | October)

Volume 12, Issue 4 September | October 2016

TAKE COMMAND OF YOUR FUTURE EXPLORE THE PROFESSIONAL CAREER OPPORTUNITIES IN THE FIELD OF CONSTRUCTION

FOUNTAIN DESIGN WELDED BY WIREGRASS STUDENTS

March | April 2016

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Georgia Contractor

September | October 2016

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Georgia Contractor

GEORGIA

CONTRACTOR

w w w. t h e g e o r g i a c o n t r a c t o r . c o m Editor-in-Chief: Roland Petersen-Frey Managing Editor: Daniel Simmons | (770) 521-8877 Art Director: Pamela Petersen-Frey | (770) 521-8877

The Georgia Contractor is published bi-monthly on a calendar year basis.

It is a magazine designed around the construction industry associations and their members. It is supported by associations and their members.

Executive, editorial, circulation, and advertising offices: 1154 Lower Birmingham Road, Canton, Georgia 30115 • Phone: (770) 521-8877 • Fax: (770) 521-0406 E-mail: rfrey@a4inc.com. Send address changes to your association and/or to A4 Inc. Opinions expressed by the authors are not necessarily those of any of the associations or publisher nor do they accept responsibility for errors of content or omissions and, as a matter of policy, neither do they endorse products or advertisements appearing herein. Parts of this magazine may be reproduced with the written consent of the publisher.

September | October 2016

On the Cover: Wiregrass Technical College’s New Image. Wiregrass Georgia Technical College Welding students from the Ben Hill-Irwin Campus were challenged to weld a sculpture to resemble the college’s ‘Wiregrass’ logo for a fountain.

An auto collision student on the Valdosta campus sketched the first design of the ‘Wiregrass’ fountain. After months of planning and sketching and several attempts, the final product measured four feet wide and 12 feet tall and weighed approximately 1500 pounds. Students and Instructor Cabot Carlton would work on this project after class taking about three months to complete. Once completed, an even bigger task was at hand.

Students and Instructor Carlton arranged for a flatbed, and Carlton himself drove the art piece, secured and laying on its side, down I-75 to its new home in front of Lowndes Hall. A crane was waiting on the crew and once they arrived, carefully placed the structure into its spot—as carefully as one would thread a string through the eye of a needle. The crane that was used as well as the materials for the fountain were donated by local businesses in Valdosta.

The fountain not only represents the college’s ‘Wiregrass’ logo but it is also a symbol of two colleges that were united through a merger. At the time of its conception and construction, the welding students from the Ben HillIrwin Campus were part of East Central Technical College, and the fountain was located on what was formerly known as Valdosta Technical College. The fountain has come to not only symbolize the college’s logo, but a blending of two colleges in perfect form like blades of grass. v 5

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CONTENTS 9

From Laborer to Superintendent

11 Looking for a Career in

15 Innovating the Future of Energy

19 Young Man with a Plan 22 A Career in Aggregates

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32 The Very Good Apprentice in Utility Construction

36 My Journey to Welding Stephen Leone

40 The Road Less Traveled A Success Story

Construction? Start Here.

26 Commercial Industrial 12 Work Ethics 14 SkillsUSA Georgia

Electricians

42 Careers in Heavy Highway Construction

28 A Career in Construction Equipment You Might Use

46 Construction is Much More than Process

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Georgia Contractor

From Laborer to Superintendent THE AGC IS BUILDING A FAST LANE TO CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT A talk with Mike Dunham, Chief Executive Officer

By Daniel J. Simmons | Staff Writer | Georgia Contractor Magazine Supervisory Training Program: Background

At the AGC (Associated General Contractors of Georgia), we try to make a better industry and we try to make better contractors.

Some of the main things that we focus on in our attempt to do this are advocacy, economic development, and contractor training; that is, helping contractors become better contractors. We help them with things like new technologies, best practices, and training.

To that end, right now we’re really focusing on the future of our industry and where our next generation of skilled craftsmen will come from.

What we’ve found is that 75 percent of students never go on to get a four year degree. This 75 percent will simply find their way into the workforce, many of whom will meander around from job to job for about a decade before coming back to the technical college system. I say this because the average age of a technical college applicant today is 28.

Mike Dunham

There is a great opportunity to rise through the construction industry, learning the trade, going to college, and learning the information that you need, or going through a program like our supervisory training program, and becom-

ing a job supervisor. That is a big, growing field.

We recently had 350 or so superintendents receive safety awards. 60 percent of them were over 50 and 26 percent were over 60. Given that it takes five to ten years to learn the trade well enough that you can actually go out and manage a major project, and our workforce of construction supervisors is largely made up of individuals who are ten years or less away from retirement, that means that we’re getting ready to have a mass exodus of construction supervisors and a gigantic void that needs to be filled. That means that the job prospects for people entering this industry are extraordinarily high.

How the program came to be.

Charlie Garbutt, one of our contractor members, understands this all too well.

We believe that is a lost decade.

We believe that young men and women who see a vision of our industry as a really good place to work, a place that has great career prospects, should leave high school with the idea “I’m going to get the training that I need in order to be a carpenter, a plumber, an electrician, a painter, a welder” and they need to know that they can make a doggone good living doing it.

One of the areas that we are taking a closer look at now is supervisors.

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He, like all of our members, knows how old all of his people are, how long they’ve been with him, and how much longer they’re going to work and he understands that unless we do something now, we’re going to get behind the eight ball really fast.

So Charlie is working with our supervisory training materials, which come through our national organization, and partnering with the Technical College System of Georgia (specifically at Oconee Fall Line) to put a training program in place in which he, and other members of the organization along with local educators, will teach these units.

What this will do for a young man or woman is put them on a career path to grow into the opportunity to lead a construction team. To be that on-site supervisor, a superintendent. It is also one of the clearest paths to one day owning and running your own business.

Who the program is targeted for

The candidates that we’re looking for with respect to this program are going to be people who are already working for a construction company. An enrollee in the program could be anyone from a superintendent trainee who just needs a little bit more training to a carpenter or even a laborer.

The program isn’t designed to educate you in construction from the ground up, it presupposes a certain amount of knowhow and builds on top of that. It will teach things like leadership, oral & written communication, planning & scheduling, and understanding contract documents.

A worker might be able to read a set of plans and go out and frame a building but they may have never been exposed to contract documents, which is something that you need to have a firm grasp of if you want to move foreword with your career.

This program gives people who may already be part of the way there an 10

opportunity to further their professional development.

So you could be right out of high school and walk right into Oconee Fall Line and go right into the program and get trained in construction management but will you be ready to run a job?

No, not yet. But if you’ve been in the industry working as an assistant superintendent or assistant supervisor for the past five years and you’re ready to take the next step, this program can really supercharge your career.

How the Leadership Training Program will Affect Your Career.

If you’re in a small town working for a smaller contractor building smaller projects, let’s say something like doctors’ offices, as a superintendent you’re maybe looking at 50, 60, or 70 thousand dollars per year. But, trust me, the superintendent that’s building the Mercedes Benz stadium is easily in the high six-figure type salary.

That’s all to say that the program won’t change your salary overnight because there are so many factors involved in that kind of thing. But in order to move up in the ranks, in order to get that bigger paycheck, you need to be looking towards a managerial role and that’s what the Supervisory Training Program will help you with. From there,

financially, it’s simply a matter of the opportunities that you pursue and the size of the projects that you can get under your belt.

Speaking of opportunity, that’s another thing to bear in mind: construction as a profession is not limited to any specific region. It’s a worldwide industry. Construction goes all over the globe, and people who have the skill set can find themselves in a position to take a massive number of opportunities, that is, if they’re inclined to travel.

Why it’s so important.

Really, this program is addressing one of the biggest problems in our industry: for every five people who are leaving (aging out or retiring) we’re only putting 1 person back in. That’s a national statistic that permeates a lot of industries due, in part, to the fact that the baby boomer generation is getting older. But in our industry, it’s a particularly serious issue because of a widespread cultural aversion to pursuing a skilled trade. If we can get more people to see this career and its many opportunities, the better off we are. The better off we all are. This industry needs good people, and people really need this industry.”v

Georgia Contractor

Looking for a Career in Construction?

Start Here.

We sat down with Mike Kenig of Holder Construction and asked him to give us some pointers on how to get a job in the construction industry.

By Daniel J. Simmons | Staff Writer | Georgia Contractor Magazine First things first: you need to know that there is a whole industry out there that’s looking for you.

That should really give you a sense of how much opportunity is waiting for you in construction. This isn’t a situation where you need to pound the pavement and knock on 50 doors before you can get a job. Quite the contrary, almost all of the major players in Georgia’s construction industry are spending a lot of time and money to pave a yellow brick road that goes directly from your door to theirs.

That said, there are a few specific places that you can begin looking if you’re interested in a job in construction. For starters, if you’re still in High School, you should definitely look into whether or not your school has a construction program. Getting this kind of early start can make a world of difference when it comes to preparing yourself for the trade. Not only will you start developing the skills that will come to serve you later on in your career but you’ll also have the opportunity to take courses that can apply for credit at a technical college, which should be your next step.

Before enrolling in a technical college, however, you should do some pretty thorough research on what is available in your area. For instance, you’ll want to look for technical colleges that have dual enrollment programs, which allow you to earn and apply the aforementioned college credit from your high school construction proSeptember | October 2016

Mike Kenig grams. Furthermore, different technical colleges offer different courses and each will have different advantages and disadvantages depending on what specific aspect of the construction trade that you’d like to pursue.

Apprenticeships

Just like you do with the dual enrollment in high school that earns you college credit, you’ll also want to ‘dual enroll’ in an apprenticeship while you’re in college. Starting to notice a trend? The week that you matriculate at technical college, go knock on the doors of a few trade associations (AGC, ABC, IEC, IBEW, etc) and ask about any apprenticeship opportunities that they offer. Like I said before, the entire industry is looking for people like you, and one of the main ways that they do so is through trade associations. These associations are made up of groups of businesses who all have similar interests (in this case, good employees) and

rather than each of them individually going out and hunting for their own employees, they pool their resources through the association, which acts as a hub for training and apprenticeships.

That’s all to say: if you’re looking for an apprenticeship, go to the associations first.

Even as an apprentice you can earn in the neighborhood of $12.00 - $15.00 per hour while you’re learning. Add to this the fact that your school expenses can be easily offset by industry specific grants and loans (such as the HOPE grant for technical colleges and the SALT loan, which you can pay back at one percent interest as long as you maintain a high enough GPA), and you’re talking about getting trained with a very valuable skill set at little or no cost that will lead you DIRECTLY to a job that pays around $50,000 per year as soon as you graduate.

Maybe you’re thinking about all of your friends who are going off to get a four year degree. Or maybe you’re worried about the conventional wisdom that everyone needs a four year degree in order to get a good job. Well, if that $50k per year starting salary doesn’t do the trick for you, then maybe this will: nationally, over 70 percent of jobs do not require a four year college degree.

That means that the overwhelming majority of available jobs do not require you to get a bachelor’s degree and that a truly massive number of people are going off to a four-year college and competing for less than 30 percent of the nation’s available jobs.

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Take-away #1 - The sooner you get started, the better.

Ok, so let’s say that you don’t live in an area with a High School construction program, and you’re still years away from going to college, I’ve got a question for you. Do you have a family member with a construction, masonry, or concrete business? Any sort of connection, family or otherwise, to the construction trade? See if you can work summers with them. Ask if you can be involved in any way. Get creative. You’ll be glad you did when the rubber hits the road and it’s time to get a job later on. The summers that you spend sweat-

ing in the sun and tamping aggregate will pay dividends when you can look your employer in the eye and proudly tell them about your passion for the trade and how you got started as soon as you could.

Take-away #2 - Companies hire for character, then train for skills.

Skills are important. Pretty much every word that you’ve read here has been aimed at showing you how to attain skills. But you certainly shouldn’t get the impression that they’re the only thing that’s important. For instance, imagine this example: two people fresh

out of trade school go into a job interview with a construction company. One of them has great skills but a terrible attitude while the other might be less skilled but is agreeable and takes instruction well. Which one do you think will get the job? All the skills in the world are useless if your employer is worried that you won’t show up on time (if at all) or that you’ll cause problems with your coworkers. Construction businesses (or any business for that matter) know that they can take a person with good character and train him, but they can’t take a trained worker and teach him how to have good character. v

Work Ethics

By Chuck Little | H.R. Director | Atlanta Electrical Contractors Association

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o matter what industry you go to work for, your work ethic is going to be extremely important.

Our electrical trade association represents some forty-five members, employing close to four thousand employees. The positions they hire 12

for range from electrician apprentices to electrical engineers and everything in between in the world of construction.

One of the first things I heard from our contractors, regardless of the position they were talking about, was the number one thing that made an average employee good and a good employee

great—was the proper work ethic.

Some of the traditional things looked at under this topic are: showing up for work every day, being on time every day, getting along with your fellow workers, being productive every minute you are at work.

These things are so important because they make a company profitable.

Profits, in turn, end up meaning job security for the employees. It’s a win-win.

Sometimes, you hear the following comment. “If I don’t show up for work, my employer doesn’t have to pay me; so, what’s the big deal?”

Let me explain the big deal. The work still needs to get done. In the above case, our contractor ends up paying someone else to do the work of the missing employee. A lot of times, that someone else is a higher paid person who ends up being moved over to complete the work of the lower paid person.

Then, another person has to be moved over to take the place of the first person who was moved. It ends up being a snowball effect—costing the contractor Georgia Contractor

more money. You multiply that by ten or 20 or 100 people (or more—over a week, a month, or a year) and we are talking about a substantial dollar loss.

For a long time, our employers struggled on how best to benchmark ‘work ethics.’ It can be like trying to grab smoke or fog. Finally, through one of our committees, we came up with some topics and how to assign a measurement to them (please see the figure below).

Once they came up with the important topics, then they had to figure out how the supervisor could best assign a

Work Ethic Evaluation:

measurement to it. They came up with a simple formula for expectations as you can see. If a person gets a lot of +1’s, they are good as gold. If they get a lot “0’s and mixed numbers,” maybe they’ll be retained and maybe they won’t be retained. If they get a lot of 1’s, they most likely will be let go.

This matrix has been shared with a number of teachers. Most of them liked it and wanted to incorporate it as a partial way of grading students. Can a teacher make a determination on who the top three or five students are in the classroom who show the most initia-

Under Expectations (-1)

tive? Absolutely. Can a teacher tell you who the two or three class clowns are?

Absolutely. The same accountability could be done for “use of working time” (and most of the other topics below) by students—in any classroom.

In our opinion, an ‘A’ student with a poor work ethic should feel some pain (lower the grade). A “C” test taker with a great work ethic should feel some love (raise the grade). The measurement of work ethic needs to start in the classroom. That will help to instill a positive pattern for life. What gets measured, gets done! v

Meets Expectations (0)

Exceeds Expectations (1)

Initiative Use of Working Time Appearance/Hygiene Attire Attitude Punctuality Attendance Follows Safety Rules Communication Skills Mechanical Aptitude Accuracy Responsibility Personal Tools September | October 2016

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SkillsUSA Georgia

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U.S. Department of Labor.

SkillsUSA offers local, state, and national opportunities in which students can demonstrate their personal, workplace, and technical skills. These three components comprise the organizational framework of SkillsUSA. This framework serves as the blueprint for career readiness.

The SkillsUSA Framework supports the mission of the organization “to empower members to become world-class workers, leaders, and responsible American citizens.” The framework accomplishes this mission by providing a common language for students to articulate what they gain from SkillsUSA participation, assesses student skill development along a learning continuum of awareness, demonstration and mastery, and creates a vision for SkillsUSA programs at the local, state, and national levels to ensure quality student-led experiences that build skills in all members. The framework works because it empowers every student to achieve career success, deliv-

Adairsville High TeamWorks Team

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killsUSA is a national organization serving teachers and high-school and college students who are preparing for careers in technical, skilled, and service occupations, including health occupations, and for further education. SkillsUSA’s mission is to empower its members to become world-class workers, leaders, and responsible American citizens.

SkillsUSA programs include local, state, and national competitions in which students demonstrate occupational and leadership skills. At the annual national-level SkillsUSA Championships, more than 6,000 students compete in 100 occupational and leadership skill areas.

SkillsUSA programs also help to establish industry standards for job skill training in the lab and classroom, and promote community service. SkillsUSA is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education and is cited as a “successful model of employer-driven youth development training program” by the

ers a skill set demanded by business and industry but lacking in many employees today, and ensures that every student member receives a consistent and specific skill set.

This year on the state level 157 chapters from across Georgia participated in the annual State Leadership and Skills Conference hosted at the Georgia International Convention Center. This conference enabled 1,870 student competitors to compete in 133 different events over a three-day period.

Always a highlight event is TeamWorks which is comprised of a team of four student members. This contest is designed to evaluate team preparation for employment and to recognize outstanding students for excellence and professionalism in the field of residential carpentry, masonry, plumbing, electricity, and teamwork skills. The contest includes a team project assessing the ability to analyze a project drawing, write an action plan, professionally present the team project, and perform skills in residential carpentry, plumbing, electricity, and masonry. In short, a small building is assembled from the ground up within a three-day period. This year, Adairsville High school placed Gold on the state level and earned the honor of advancing to the SkillsUSA National Skills and Leadership Conference in Louisville, Kentucky. Adairsville High had strong competition at the national level but had an outstanding competition, placing third out of 34 teams and brought home a Bronze medal to prove it!

Overall, Georgia had 163 competitors at the national event and earned 29 medals, making Georgia third in the nation for medal count. v

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Young Man with a Plan SOUTH PAULDING HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR KENNY ALMOND IS WELL ON HIS WAY TO A SUCCESSFUL CONSTRUCTION CAREER

By Allen Allnoch

Kenny Almond

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andering the halls of Hiram’s sprawling McGarity Elementary School, a visitor easily could get lost.

Kenny Almond, on the other hand, knows exactly where he’s going. The South Paulding High senior strides purposefully around the 87,000-square-foot facility, a picture of confidence in his hard hat and safety glasses.

Working for Bremen-based RK Redding Construction, Kenny spent much of his summer on a large-scale renovation project at the school. The September | October 2016

confidence he exhibited on the job extends to his career plans—in that realm, too, he has a firm sense of direction.

“I’m planning to join the Marines after I graduate, then go into construction after retirement,” he says.

Such a career path would be reminiscent of the one taken by Kenny’s father. Kelly Almond spent ten years in the Corps before launching his own company, Almond Construction, which specialized in residential renovation and repair.

Today Kelly is a construction technology instructor at South Paulding

High, where one of his star students is his own son.

“I think many parents are not aware of the value of career tech programs,” says Kelly Almond, who also serves as a SkillsUSA advisor at South Paulding. “It’s a lot more than building birdhouses. It’s all about having career options.

“Kenny kind of breaks the stereotype of what people think of as the typical construction student,” he continues. “He’s been an A-B student for most of his 11 years in grade school, he’s gone through ROTC, he’s applied himself in the construction program. So he’s got a lot of options as he prepares for a career. I’m very proud of him.”

Likewise, Kenny’s supervisors at RK Redding speak highly of their young charge.

“Kenny is probably our most decorated student,” says Senior Project Manager Geoff Smith. “He’s been on time, he’s done everything he’s been asked, and he’s got a good future ahead of him. Kenny has things planned out, and that’s a good thing.

There are a lot of students who don’t.”

Kenny was one of three South Paulding students working for RK Redding over the summer. Now he’s back in school, but remains employed thanks to a work-release program that allows up to 15 hours a week on the job. With participating contractors receiving incentives such as a discount on workman’s comp insurance, and students gaining valuable experience in the field, it’s a win-win for all parties.

“We’re partnered with Paulding 19

County and Haralson County, and most likely will expand that,” Smith says. “The state is really trying to push skills, because if you go on a job site 20

and start looking at the skilled trades, you’ll see there aren’t a lot of young guys and young ladies in this. So we’re going to have a lack of trained workers

in the future if we don’t get our vocational programs back going in the right direction. My prediction is that the skilled trades are going to make good money in the next 20 years, because there’s just such a lack of that right now.”

Kelly Almond is a strong advocate of such programs too. “It’s one thing to have intellect and knowledge,” says the senior Almond, who was installed in July as president of the Georgia Association of Career and Technical Education. “But the great thing about a program like this is it gives the student good hands-on field experience to complement that.”

Indeed, Kenny’s experience on the McGarity Elementary project was very much hands-on. His work included setting doorframes, concrete framework, fire caulking, wood framing, and trimming.

“You can tell him to do something and walk away and you don’t have to worry about it,” says Project Superintendent Matt Bryant. “If he has any questions, he’ll come talk to you. That’s what I like. A lot of people won’t ask questions – they’re either too scared or they think they know everything.”

Of course, growing up under his father’s tutelage has served Kenny well.

“He’d take me to job sites he was on, let me do little odds and ends, take me to skills competitions to see what goes on at those,” he recalls. Today, he says, Kelly is “by far the best construction teacher I’ve ever had.”

Kenny also put those lessons to use in competition this year. He earned a second-place regional finish in carpentry to qualify for the state SkillsUSA Championships last March.

Skills competitions, first-rate instruction, real-world experience—it’s all part of Kenny Almond’s career plan.

With that kind of focus, he’s clearly headed straight down a path to success. v Georgia Contractor

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Career in AGGREGATES Growing up, almost every kid is fascinated by big trucks. Whether it was the semi-tractor trailer that passed by on the highway or the garbage truck that picked up the trash every week, there was something universally appealing about being close to a vehicle that is so much larger than you.

Maybe you’ve nurtured this interest over the years and have become a gearhead working on everything you can get your hands on, but find ‘regular’ cars to be a bit boring. There are excellent opportunities to develop this passion into a profession and earn an outstanding living working on, or driving, massive pieces of equipment such as a 90-ton wheel loader or a 100-ton haul truck.

Or, maybe you’ve taken a more ‘hands-off approach’ and are interested in finance, human resources, environmental management or health & safety.

Would you be interested in working in an industry that has over 10,000 locations spread out through all of the 50 States?

The best part about these two different career paths is that either can be developed within the aggregates industry. By working for an employer that produces crushed stone, sand or gravel, you will participate in furthering the growth and development of your community. The roads we drive on, the houses and buildings we live and work in, and the schools we attend all require crushed stone or sand. You will be making a direct, positive impact on the community in which you and your family live.

If you are a hard worker, have a positive attitude, and are willing to be part of a team, there is always room for someone like you in the aggregates industry! If you would like to find out more about joining this dynamic industry, please contact the Georgia Construction Aggregate Association at www.gcaa.org. v September | October 2016

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Georgia Contractor

Commercial

Industrial

ELECTRICIANS Being an electrician is both a rewarding and lucrative career path. Commercial and Industrial electricians are responsible for ensuring that electricity is provided to all of the major buildings you see today. Anytime you walk into your schools, have to go to the doctor, support your favorite team at a stadium or even enjoy a dinner at a restaurant, an electrician was responsible for wiring the building so that it can receive power.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median annual income for electricians was $51,880 in May 2015. The top ten percent earned more than $88,130. To obtain the skills necessary to become an electrician, most electricians attend a US Department of Labor (DOL) registered apprenticeship program. These programs typically take four years. The apprentice works in the field to obtain their on-the-job training (OJT) and will attend class once or twice a week. Completion of a US DOL registered apprenticeship program leads to the nationally recognized certification of Journeyman Electrician.

Electricians are both Highly Skilled and Highly Paid!

If you want to find out how to earn while you learn, graduate debt-free, and become a highly skilled electrician, contact your local Independent Electrical Contractors Inc. (IEC) chapter or visit myelectriccareer.com for more information! v

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H A. Sack electricians admiring their work after installing the main electrical switchboard at a large manufacturer.

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Career in CONSTRUCTION Equipment you might use When you join the construction trade, more often than not, you are expected to do more than exercise your trade in general. You also need to be skilled in the tools of the trade. For some, the tools may be a hammer or a wrench, but many of these tools can have four-foot high wheels and weigh 15 tons. In this section you will learn some of these tools and equipment, what they do, and how much a skilled operator gets paid. We would like to thank Flint Equipment for providing the photographs. v

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What a dragIn the forest, uptime is the name of the game and this Deere 648L Skidder isn’t interested in playing nice.If you want to drag more wood and make the tough job a little bit easier, this is the skidder for you. It combines best-in-class horsepower and an impressive power-to-weight ratio with a constant engine speed—for superb responsiveness and maximum efficiency. Better machine balance optimizes pulling power while improving stability when climbing hills, navigating adverse terrain or hauling bigger payloads.

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This motor grader levels everything except the playing field.

The tall mainframe on John Deere’s G-series lets these highly productive graders shoulder larger loads and navigate more easily over obstacles.

The Event-Based Shifting transmission delivers smooth as silk gear and directional changes for exceptional control and grading precision without extra effort. There’s nothing else like them.

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Talk about a full bucketJohn Deere’s 944K Hybrid Wheel Loader delivers full buckets every time.

This piece of equipment has all of the features that allow heavy-duty maneuverability in the most demanding terrain and all the while performing with increased productivity and uptime while lowering daily operating costs. Its unique combination of speed, fuel efficiency, and surprising power make it a standout performer in an arena where every move matters.

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Let’s talk trashDeere’s 460E Articulated Dump Truck boasts a bigger dump body and even faster cycle times. E-Series ADTs deliver big-time productivity. This dump truck employs light-weight heavy-duty fabricated frames and high alloy-steel bodies ensuring best-in-class power-to-weight ratios So you will haul more material at lower cost per ton than comparable-size trucks v 30

Georgia Contractor

September | October 2016

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Georgia Contractor

The

VERY GOOD APPRENTICE In utility construction

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The old saying, ‘Good Help is Hard to Find’ may be true. However, Legacy Water Group, LLC may have hit the jackpot when 2016 Morgan County High School graduate Riley Sims walked through their door seeking an internship.

The following is a glimpse of what Riley was able to witness and take part in that will stay with him forever as he continues his education. His testimony of hard work and determination will serve as a guide for future students enrolled in the Georgia Utility Contractors Association’s Youth Apprenticeship Program.

Over the past few months, Legacy has shown me the importance of hard work, the complexity of the job designs, and the overall concept of how the world of engineering is always evolving as my journey within this world has only just begun.

Riley is helping to secure the pipe while it is being cut so that the job can continue safely In the coming weeks, and on schedule.

I will move on to the next stage of my life. I will be attending Georgia Southern University where I will be majoring in Civil Engineering.

On June 1st, I began to pursue my dream of becoming an engineer when I entered the working atmosphere.

But most importantly, that was the day I realized it was my passion. Legacy Water Group made all of these things possible. Despite the little things I learned through the summer such as laying pipe and working a shovel properly, I learned that for a job to be able to be proposed, worked on, and finished properly, everything must follow a system.

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September | October 2016

During the summer internship with Legacy Water Group, LLC Riley learned how to scale and read construction drawings and plans.

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Riley is receiving the $1000.00 GUCA Youth Apprenticeship Scholarship from GUCA President Charlotte Garrett, Rockdale Pipeline Inc. as Legacy Water Group, LLC President Mark Accetturo looks on.

It is more intricate than just looking at a set of plans, purchasing materials, and paying people to do the job. In order for everything to work properly, there must be planning, drafting, bidding, making sure machines are available, devising a plan on how to balance the work load, creating your work crew, and

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many other things before you can even think about starting a job. The dynamics of the business aspect of this line of work is amazing to see. Also, I have noticed that in order for all things to run smoothly, each level of the team must possess values such as a strong work ethic, dependability, and perseverance.

People trust and depend on the portion of the system before them to get their job done quickly and efficiently so the next part is able to begin. As I stated before, the little things are very useful to know as far as how the fundamental job site is run, but the real learning experience came when my eyes were opened

Georgia Contractor

to the vast world of job design and management.

During my last few years of high school, I became interested in engineering and decided to pursue a college with an engineering focus. After visiting Georgia Southern University campus for the first time, I knew it was the campus for me. With such a large population of student body, I had my doubts when I first got there, but, much to my surprise, no matter how many students were in the same space, it felt like home. The clubs and activities that are available to me are one step shy of endless. From athletes, to outdoor enthusiasts, dancers, gamers, board game lovers, artists, or whatever your hobby may be, there is an organization that is just for you. Since I will be living there for four years, I wanted a school that felt like home. Georgia Southern, with that mindset, was the only option for me.

Although the extra-curricular activities are nice, the main reason I chose GSU was their excellence in the Department of Engineering. The learning facilities are incredible, the staff has been willing to provide support and direction, and the hands-on style of learning are all perfect for me. The Department of Engineering encourages their students to complete co-op programs, internships, and hands-on learning. They inspire students to seek job training and prepare you for real world application of what will be learned in the classroom.

As you can see, this college isn’t just school, it is my home away from home.

Engineering has always stood out to me ever since I was a young child.

Everyone knows the stage that small children go through where their favorite question is ‘Why.’ I guess I never grew out of that stage. I am constantly analyzing things to see why they work and finding out what goes into the creation that separates the prototypes from the final product. I have always been partial to playing in the dirt. The idea of construction taking place underground has September | October 2016

always caught my attention. That was the deciding factor on the division of engineering in which I decided to pursue—Civil Engineering. There are many different routes I could take after obtaining this degree, but, the most interesting part to me is the underground water and sewage systems. Now, the designing of roads, bridges, and infrastructures is definitely quite intriguing, but there is just something about the underground pipes that I love. My plan, once I graduate, is to find a civil engineering company for which I can design projects, but one which may also allow me to work on the job site as well. My dream is to one day become the engineer on the job site, checking and making sure the job is being done correctly.

Of course, nobody knows what life will bring, but, if all my goals and aspirations are met, I will be the civil engineer that I have always visualized myself as being.

Legacy Water Group has given me the passion and the experiences to be

able to pursue my dreams with the utmost confidence and eagerness. From this summer through my college years and into the days of my career, I look forward to working with Legacy Water Group or a company of similar value and design to continue to build my skills and advance my knowledge of this field. Even when things get tough with classes and work, it is my expectation to enjoy every minute of it. Good things always come to those who wait patiently and work for what they have.

The Georgia Utility Contractors Association, Inc. is pleased to announce that Riley Sim has been selected as the 2016 GUCA Youth Apprenticeship Program Scholarship Award Recipient. As the award recipient, he will receive $1,000.00 to continue his educational endeavors at a university or technical college construction degree program. For more information about the 2016 GUCA Youth Apprenticeship Program Scholarship Program, call GUCA, 404-362-9995. v

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STEPHEN LEONE

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Georgia Contractor

My

JOURNEY to WELDING Stephen Leone

The thought of becoming a welder was quite possibly the farthest idea for a career while I was in high school. Born and raised in Tampa Florida, five minutes from the beach, I grew up playing sports, always being outdoors and writing music. As far as the future was concerned my expected career was that I would play music for a living. This was a dream that I carried even into post high school days. As I graduated high school playing in a local band for a few years, I realized unless you’re Justin Bieber or a YouTube sensation you might as well bank on Julliard or a prestigious music school for a future in the music industry. This being that you’ll need a music composition degree at least to teach guitar lessons to pay the bills while you wait for your ‘dream’ of a band making it big to come through.

Needless to say, that dream faded. I was working at Starbucks barely making it while attending a community college for a degree I assumed I had to get because society puts more emphasis on college education than on trade education. I would even say the perception is college degrees are for everyone, and the trades are for the less competent and those unable to handle college.

I am here to tell you if someone told me I could make six figures being a pipe welder when I was 18, I probably would have said no. But if my high school put less emphasis on the football and academic scholarships and had a shop with welding and I had been exposed to it, I would have fallen in love with it.

I’ll one up that, if someone would have told me that in fourteen weeks I could be certified and welding making 15-20 dollars an hour before all my friends finished two years of community college, I would have let them cut my left arm off.

I was tired of Starbucks at 21 and decided I needed something more. My father’s friend at the time ran a construction company and said they needed a laborer. I jumped at the thought when he told me he would start me at 12.00 dollars an hour. After my store manager at Starbucks and all my ‘academic focused’ friends sat me down and discouraged me greatly from dropping out of school and going to work in construction, I heeded my heart and quit both school and Starbucks and went to work the blue collar career. I started as a laborer for them, digging ditches, carrying materials, and doing anything September | October 2016

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the foreman asked of me. Every night when we would get back to the shop and I would see the welding machines in the shop untouched. I thought to myself, “if they pay me 12 to just carry stuff if I tell them I can weld, I bet I can ask for 15 an hour. I went home over the next few weeks, researched welding and watched a ton of videos. Well before I could even ask to weld my boss pulled me into his office one day and sat me down, I thought I was getting fired. My boss said, “ I know you have been having some issues with the guys on the crews, how would you like to be the shop foreman here at the office and be in charge of loading and unloading the trucks and fabricating the steel for the jobs?” I think I screamed inside because I assumed he would let me go but he said he enjoyed how hard I worked and thought I’d be a great fit for managing the shop.

Long story short, he gave me the keys. I would lock up the shop at night.

Little did he know that when everyone went home, I would pretend to leave too. I would clock out, pull back in and weld for hours into the night learning as much as I could with all the different machines that the shop had. I felt invincible, it was the coolest thing I had ever done. I worked in the shop as a fabricator and equipment repairer. I would weld as much as I could. After that I welded for about another year and a half before hearing about Georgia Trade School through a friend. He started throwing around salaries for certified welders, and I was already hooked. I toured the school and a few months later signed up and started. I flew through the program due to my experience and still had so much to learn, I truly felt like I was making something of myself. Before I graduated, I signed on with Trinity Rail Industries with benefits for double the pay I was making in construction. That same year I got married, moved into a house and was making some serious money on 38

overtime at Trinity. I couldn’t believe that in less than three months of being graduated from a 14 week program I was debt free, married, and living in a house at 23 years old. Talk about an accelerated work path. After almost a year working at Trinity, Georgia Trade School Vice President Sean Quinton asked me if I would fill in at GTS for an instructor while he was on vacation.

I would work 12 hours and come to GTS and work until 10pm. I didn’t mind since it was extra money and a foot in the door to the instructing side I always wanted to be a part of. Needless to say, they asked me to stay full time and I have been instructing since November of 2015 and it has been a blast.

I wouldn’t trade anything for my career.

The amount of hours spent stressing about what to do with my life when I was 16-21 was all worth it. Every dollar wasted on college was spent well at GTS. The bottom line is this, pick a trade if you don’t want to go to college and work hard at it. It will pay off in a few years if you put your mind to it.

Don’t buy into the mainstream that if

you don’t go to college, you will never make a livable wage. There are plenty of trades and hands on jobs out there that will more than support a family. Just put your mind to it and work hard. v

Georgia Contractor

September | October 2016

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The Road Less Traveled

W

A SUCCESS STORY

By Ryan Boling | Training Operations Manager | HB NEXT

Steven Uriostegui

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hen Steven Uriostegui graduated from Marietta, Georgia’s Osborne High School in May of 2016, he was a little unsure of the direction in which he wanted to take his life.

For several months prior to graduating high school, Steven, like many students, was faced with the task of choosing between a dizzying multitude of career paths, many of which would have required a substantial educational (and financial) commitment on his behalf. While there are a great many career opportunities in today’s open job market that proudly boast competitive starting salaries for entry-level employees and college graduates, more and more students these days are finding themselves saddled with considerable debt upon graduating college. Absent the privilege of academic scholarships or the benefit of individuals who can support them financially, the affordability of a traditional college education for students is seemingly becoming out of reach.

Needless to say, Steven soon found himself after graduation faced with yet another critical life decision: Do I go to college and possibly grad school for the next four to eight years of my life in hopes of potentially landing a high-paying job? Or, do I forego higher education for the time being, go to work with an established company, and get a head start towards building my financial future?

Some high school graduates, will ruminate over these types of questions for months -working random part-time Georgia Contractor

or full-time jobs, hanging out with friends, and aimlessly taking all the time deemed necessary to ‘figure it out’before eventually arriving at a decisive course of personal action. Prior to graduation, Steven happened upon an advertising flyer at school for a Construction Ready program sponsored by the Build Cobb Partnership, a joint venture between Cobb Works, the Construction Education Foundation of Georgia (CEFGA), HB NEXT, and The Collective at Cumberland. It was at this point when Steven’s direction for his career and his future suddenly came into crystal clear focus.

So began Steven’s journey into the world of construction, with his first step being accepted (after a rigorous screening and selection process) into Construction Ready as one of the youngest candidates ever in the program’s history. The Construction Ready program, a 20-day crash course, boot camp- construction-style training regimen structured to prepare candidates for entry-level opportunities and careers in construction, was the vehicle which propelled Steven into his current job. In just five short weeks, Steven went from mulling over his career and life choices to becoming a trained, credentialed, ambitious, and gainfully-employed associate of a renowned general contracting firm, J.E. Dunn Construction. In expeditious fashion, Steven positioned himself to forge his own career path, become self-sufficient and ultimately, to control his own destiny.

While Steven’s decision to pursue a career in construction prior to earning a college degree was at first met with some skepticism by his family, he went ahead and took a leap of faith, drawing support and encouragement from some of his closest friends.

Steven’s potential was evident to his Construction Ready instructors and administrators almost immediately upon starting the program in June of 2016.

As a component of Steven’s screening September | October 2016

for Construction Ready, he underwent an ‘industry interview’ conducted by Mark Hornbuckle, a former general superintendent and 30+ year veteran of the construction industry. These ‘Industry Interviews’ are proprietary to Construction Ready and are specifically designed to quickly gauge a candidate’s readiness to enter the construction industry. According to Hornbuckle, “I tried, but Steven was not going to be scared away from this program, nor this industry”. Not only does he speak two languages, but Steven -of his own volition- chose to seat himself at the front of the classroom each day during the 20-day program, quickly establishing himself as a leader amongst his (elder) peers.

From a historical perspective, college has been, and in many cases will continue to be, the next logical milestone for students after graduating high school. College educations open many opportunities. They prepare the future leaders of our society to hold jobs in various disciplines and to excel in advanced fields of study. It is an important tradition that has been upheld by families for centuries, and culturally, is heralded by many as a rite of passage into adulthood. However, when adherence to this cultural ‘norm’ becomes less attractive or infeasible, for whatever reasons, families (including students themselves) are forced to make some very tough economic decisions.

While attending college directly out of high school was not necessarily the ideal path for Steven, utilizing the skills and credentialing he gained through his experience with Construction Ready, he is nonetheless positioned for a successful and lucrative career in construction. To quote Steven, “you have to be a go-getter to make it in this industry; and it takes hard work to get the job done.” Specializing in the carpentry trade, Steven now works on an installation crew where he helps move various materials, build rack

stops, and wire mesh partitions on a high-profile construction project near Atlanta, Georgia. He aspires to one day assume leadership over some of his own projects, as a foreman or superintendent for J.E. Dunn Construction. What’s more is that Steven will continue to enjoy the luxury of managing his income year after year without the stress or financial burden associated with having to repay an educational loan. With all of the flexible education options currently available to modern-day working professionals, Steven can pursue a college degree at his own pace, on his own

“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I- I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.” ~ Robert Frost, 1916

schedule and on his own terms.

Sometimes, the burdens of peer pressure and the search for approval from others compel students to make decisions that, while largely popular, are not necessarily in their best interests.

Steven Uriostegui is living proof that the road to success does not always have to be paved with credit hours, research papers or tuition payments. There are other roadways to success, paved with attributes such as dedication, perseverance, dependability and most importantly, good old-fashioned hard work.

Perhaps Robert Frost was on to something all those years ago. v 41

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Georgia Contractor

Careers in

Heavy Highway Construction Right now, Georgia’s road construction industry is offering you the opportunity of a lifetime—a lifelong career that provides you with great pay, great benefits, and steady work. It also gives you the satisfaction of building something significant for your community and your state. There is no better time than now to pursue a career in the heavy highway construction field.

With new funding in place and advancements in technology, all a student needs to succeed is a desire to learn and a willingness to work hard. Students straight out of high school can earn between $27,000-$37,000 in their first year of employment and from there, the sky is the limit. Students can pursue a career in the following trades: • Heavy Equipment Operator • Asphalt Plant Operator • Asphalt Construction Operator • Bridge Carpenter • Cement Finisher • Heavy Equipment Mechanic • Truck Driver • Traffic Control • Surveying Employment in the heavy highway construction is year-round, and the industry is growing. Employees who excel in a trade can also move up very quickly into management positions and lead multimillion dollar projects.

Come join an industry that is on the rise. Learn a trade, work hard, move up and enjoy the life you want. v

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Asphalt construction offers a variety of employment opportunities such as asphalt paving machine operator, asphalt distributor, roller, and asphalt screed operator.

September | October 2016

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Roadway and grading construction offer opportunities as operator of heavy equipment, truck driver, and surveyor.

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Bridge and concrete construction offer a variety of professional opportunities, such as crane operator, bridge carpenter, curb machine operator, paving machine operator, and cement finisher.

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Georgia Contractor

September | October 2016

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Georgia Contractor

Construction

is much more than PROCESS

New South Construction builds all types of structures for higher education facilities, including student housing, sporting venues and lastly, but not least academic classroom buildings. These buildings are constructed as learning and teaching environments and make way for students who ultimately become the future leaders of America. Some of New South’s prized projects are education related and renovations are amongst the most challenging of projects. Some of their most recent academic successes was the design-build renovations to Chattahoochee Technical College’s Woodstock Campus buildings. Originally built in the 1930s, with additions to the facility in 1970s, the campus sits on the former site of Woodstock Elementary School. Due to the buildings’ ages, the facility required a tremendous amount of upgrades to HVAC, electrical, plumbing, restrooms, stabilization to roof, cosmetic updating, new technology, and a myriad of other items.

Along with New South’s design-build project team, Chattahoochee Tech’s facility personnel were instrumental in the saving and reuse of several materials from the old school. This included refurbishing of the wood flooring, reusing much of the old ceiling bead board, and the restoration of the existing copula which was then returned to its original place on the oldest structure.

With the passion of the project superintendent and facility personal’s extreme involvement during the entire construction process, there was a strong desire to incorporate portions of this restoration into a hands-on learning experience for the Chattahoochee Tech students at other locations. One item of special interest was the boiler that was removed from the oldest building at the site and hauled away to a near-by campus, where Chattahoochee Tech’s welding students were able to take the piece and create an incredibly beautiful, handcrafted fire pit. Saving this old 1930s boiler from being demolished and transforming it into a piece of art, not only afforded the students to show their talents, but also allowed Chattahoochee Tech the opportunity to raise funds for their foundation. The foundation sold raffle tickets prior to and the day of the dedication event for an opportunity to win this one of a kind fire pit and raised over $800.00. The person who ultimately won the grill is an area manager for Georgia Power and is extremely involved with Cherokee County, where the school is located.

Approximately 700 people worked on the renovations to this school, however the end product is so much more than meeting milestones and creating beautiful new buildings for the campus. It is all the rewards along the way and in the end, realizing that in so many ways higher education plays a very important role in our communities. v September | October 2016

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Georgia Contractor