NCCER entered 2021 with purpose and vigor, intent on reinforcing our foundation for the future. Backed by a multimilliondollar commitment by our Board of Trustees, we moved to focus on three key areas: our people, our processes and our products.
By expanding our talented staff, improving our internal and external systems and enhancing the relevance and rigor of our curricula, we positioned ourselves to focus on our mission to develop a skilled workforce for the construction industry.
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Focusing on Our Foundation Making a Difference
Strengthening Our Future Staying on Target
Spreading the Word Supporting the Journey
NCCER is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) education foundation.
Our history, mission and core values remind us of our beginnings, show us our present and guide our future.
NCCER was founded in 1996 as the National Center for Construction Education and Research.
More than 125 construction CEOs and various association and academic leaders united to revolutionize training for the construction industry.
Sharing the common goal to develop a safe and productive workforce, these companies created a standardized training and credentialing program for the industry.
Our mission is to build a safe, productive and sustainable workforce of craft professionals.
Our vision is to be recognized by industry, government and education as the training, assessment, certification and career development standard for construction and maintenance professionals.
• INTEGRITY
• CREDIBILITY
• INNOVATION
• COMMITMENT
• QUALITY
• SUPPORTING INDUSTRY
• CUSTOMER FOCUS
• SUSTAINABLE CAREER OPPORTUNITIES
2021 presented an opportunity for growth and new projects like never before. The NCCER team has gone to great lengths to invest in our curricula, workforce development and accreditation to continue our mission of building a safe, productive and sustainable workforce. I am extremely proud of our team and all we accomplished in this past year.
From nearing 22 million modules completed to having 912 accredited organizations for NCCER training and assessments, the great work done this year is setting our organization up for sustained success. The commitment to our people, products and projects continues to guide our efforts.
In March, we announced the expansion of our leadership team. Jennifer Wilkerson, who has been with the company for 12 years, was promoted to Vice President Innovation & Advancement and was appointed to oversee a new department dedicated to the innovation of products and services.
Earlier in the year, we welcomed Lisa Strite to the team as the Chief Learning Officer over the Product Development department. Lisa’s extensive experience is helping enhance NCCER’s portfolio by introducing modern and digital training solutions to the construction industry.
We also added 30 new NCCER positions and three new departments. One-third of those positions are with the Workforce Development and Accreditation team under Cathy Tyler. These added positions have given the department even more bandwidth to effectively support NCCER’s network with program onboarding, system implementation and connections to local NCCER users.
Build Your Future made progress toward the launch of its talent pipeline tool, CareerStarter, which will create connections among young people looking to start a career in construction, training providers and companies with positions to fill. We are looking forward to a national launch in 2022.
This year offered further opportunities for us to involve the subject matter experts (SMEs) that serve as the brain trust for our curricula and assessments. We held more events for our SMEs to provide their knowledge and expertise in our product development processes. Overall, we hosted 52 meetings for our testing and assessment enhancement SMEs.
Our industry and network are dynamic. To keep pace, the product development team released 11 updated craft titles, 84 new modules and nine NCCERconnect courses. This includes the sixth edition of Core: Introduction to Basic Construction Skills and additional levels of two industrial crafts.
To improve user experience, we launched new platforms and enhanced our existing offerings. Our team launched an online learning management system aiding our systems training, which are self-paced and available 24/7.
In addition to launching the platform, we began offering a Journeyman Electrical Test Prep practice exam for both the 2017 and 2020 NEC licensure exam, which will prepare trainees for their electrical license.
In August, NCCER made the move to fully-online testing. This move provides several benefits for both NCCER and our network. For example, we will use psychometrics to ensure our testing accurately evaluates a person’s proficiency in their craft (and maintains trust in NCCER’s Workforce Development System). In addition, online testing enhances the credibility and security of our tests and reduces our carbon footprint.
With a successful 2021 in the rearview, we look forward to 2022 focusing on new goals and a refreshed vision of NCCER. Our team is excited and committed to our mission of creating a safe and productive workforce while supporting the construction industry and the craft professionals who build the world.
It is human nature to make plans for the future. Some plans can be achieved alone but others call for collaboration. When we join together and work with others on a shared vision, the results can grow exponentially. The Board of Trustees and NCCER team had the opportunity to collaborate and undertake new and exciting projects this year. 2021 was a time for the NCCER Board to realize new and exciting goals like never before, and I believe we did just that.
From expanding the NCCER team, to updating titles and even creating a completely new department –NCCER accomplished remarkable things in 2021.
In 2020, the Board of Trustees and the executive team’s planning laid the foundation for our current successes, and for that I am truly grateful. With the board’s foresight over the past two years we were able to navigate and thrive in the midst of a global pandemic, and this year is no different. Given the challenges and hardships that are out of our control, it’s encouraging to see what we are able to accomplish together.
We kicked off the year strong with a commitment to invest over $4 million in NCCER’s people, products and projects. This allowed for a significant number of titles to be updated, technology to be leveraged and new systems to be launched.
We were also able to add new positions and new departments to the NCCER team, including the Innovation & Advancement department. With this new department, NCCER can focus on special projects like the digital credential badges the team launched this year. We welcomed Lisa Strite as Chief Learning Officer and promoted Jennifer Wilkerson to Vice President — Innovation & Advancement. These expanded roles are helping propel NCCER toward its mission of building a safe, productive and sustainable workforce of craft professionals.
The Product Development department has been busier than ever designing new and updated curricula. Their commitment to understanding and communicating
all the information possible about the different crafts is unmatched in our industry.
The Testing & Registry and Digital Learning departments completed steps for an extensive system update to provide the best longterm customer experience. This includes creating an online learning management system for on-demand training and moving to online testing – eliminating the need for paper tests.
In 2021 we had a renewed focus on strategic partnerships and relationship building. In doing so we were able to partner with several organizations to enhance curricula. Subject matter experts and partners of NCCER were pursued actively to challenge us and make us better.
With all the success achieved last year, 2022 holds tremendous possibility for the Board of Trustees and NCCER. We are refocusing, redirecting and recharging to make the next months a catalyst toward meeting more of our goals. We could not have accomplished what we did this year without our dedicated board members, executive leadership team and all team members at NCCER who make it happen.
“ Given the challenges and hardships that are out of our control, it’s encouraging to see what we are able to accomplish together. ”Boyd Worsham Stephen Toups
The value and future of our organization comes from our people, processes and products. To ensure we can meet our mission, we invested in all these key areas: Our people — we significantly grew our staff, adding new departments and reorganizing our internal structure to have the right people in the right positions to be successful. Our processes — we worked to improve a number of NCCER systems and created more streamlined, secure and intuitive processes and procedures. Our products — we revised, upgraded and published several new editions of our craft training curricula while releasing additional new services and offerings in support of our mission .
We added three new departments to our internal structure:
• Innovation & Advancement — focusing on innovating our products and services.
• Digital Learning — working to move content into a digital format that can be delivered on demand.
• Strategic Partnerships — developing strong, productive and mutually beneficial new industry partnerships.
Across our entire staff, we grew from approximately 75 team members in 2020 to 98 team members at the end of 2021.
In addition to our growing staff resources, we added two new members to our executive leadership to head two of these new departments. Jennifer Wilkerson was appointed to Vice President – Innovation & Advancement and Lisa Strite to Chief Learning Officer.
Under their guidance and experience, NCCER will work to develop new innovative products and services for our trainees and instructors in an increasingly digital world. For example, our teams piloted numerous virtual and augmented reality platforms to better engage students in our network.
In addition, the Audit department oversaw more than twice the number of audits previously completed in one year:
NCCER supported the inaugural Construction Inclusion Week, created by the Time for Change consortium.
At NCCER, we are committed to providing access to high-quality training and industry-recognized credentials regardless of race, color, creed, age, sex or national origin. We have forged relationships with a broad range of partners to help our message and resources reach traditionally underrepresented groups in our industry.
As an organization, NCCER believes that everyone deserves an opportunity to Build Their Future® by pursuing any of the numerous rewarding career opportunities available in construction.
As part of our staff expansion, we also increased customer service availability to ensure our students, partners and instructors had better access to support their lives and schedules.
6,567 individuals attended:
• 173 System Trainings
• 32 Town Halls
• 21 Master Trainer Instructor Certification Training Program Classes
• 18 Administrator Certification Training Program Classes
• 22 Practical Examiner Program Classes, “Ask the Experts” sessions and more.
Our staff participated in a food drive with Bread of the Mighty Food Bank and donated more than 20 boxes of food. Matching contributions from CEO and President Boyd Worsham, the NCCER executive team and the TJC Group provided an additional 18,000 meals for our community.
Every child deserves to experience the joy of Christmas morning. Our staff adopted 34 children from The Salvation Army’s Angel Tree program to help spread cheer to the little ones in our community.
In 2021, our Marketing Team took home the following:
• Gold Addy: Webisode Series – Discover More Success Stories
• Silver Addy: Microsite – 2019 NCCER Annual Report
Craft professionals now have a modern way to display their industry knowledge through our newly launched NCCER Digital Credentials.
For the first time in our 25-year history, our students can show off their industry knowledge and skills on social media, online portfolios and digital wallets on their mobile devices. 3,216 badges were issued in 2021.
A new NCCER Card Number Request form replaced the Registry’s old card number sign up process. This simple form allows individuals to quickly and easily create their NCCER Card Number.
We developed a single sign-on feature called NCCER Account that helps our network easily manage all their NCCER systems from one login. Benefits include improved security, simplified account management and a more streamlined user experience.
To enhance the rigor and security of testing, NCCER completely transitioned to an online testing system in August 2021.
To assist with this transition, we felt it crucial to provide self-paced system training for our network to easily access 24/7 through our online learning platform.
Based on feedback from our testing organizations, fees for retests were removed and we implemented a yearly test subscription model as another option to the per-test pricing.
Since the launch in 2017, over 2.2 million module tests have been completed in our Testing System, with nearly 1 million in 2021 alone.
NCCER and our publishing partner Pearson updated and released several new editions of our curricula, including:
• Concrete Construction Level 2, Second Edition
• Core: Introduction to Basic Construction Skills, Sixth Edition
• Electronic Systems Technician Levels 3 – 4, Fourth Edition
• Managing Electrical Hazards, Fifth Edition
• Millwright Levels 1 – 2, Fourth Edition
• Pipefitting Levels 3 – 4, Fourth Edition
• Roofing Level 1, Second Edition
• Sprinkler Fitting Level 1, Fourth Edition
NCCER published the following new eTexts:
• Core: Introduction to Basic Construction Skills, Sixth Edition
• Electrical Levels 1 – 4, Tenth Edition
• Electronic Systems Technician Levels 3 – 4, Fourth Edition
• Masonry Levels 2 – 3, Fourth Edition
We enhanced our video training through the NCCER Training YouTube channel based on Performance Profiles and our curricula modules.
Thanks to these companies for their contributions:
• Builders Association of North Central Florida
• Built Brothers LLC.
• Cianbro Institute
• Santa Fe College
• Willmar Electric
The Sixth Edition of Core: Introduction to Basic Construction Skills, was revised in 2021 and includes:
• A new introductory module, “Build Your Future in Construction,” highlights the successful career pathways in construction.
• Extensive updates to four modules:
“Introduction to Construction Math,” “Introduction to Hand Tools,” “Introduction to Power Tools” and “Introduction to Construction Drawings.”
• A modern design with QR codes to direct students to digital resources and improvements to the reading experience.
• A fully reimagined NCCERconnect course with integrated augmented reality lessons, dozens of videos on performance tasks, construction math and employability skills, dynamic presentations to support classroom engagement, projectbased learning assignments and more.
In 2021, NCCER released curricula in conjunction with these industry-recognized partners:
NCCER and National Roofing Contractors Association collaborated on two levels that take students from education to certification. New Steep-Slope Roofer and Low-Slope Roofer interim credentials provide additional specialized career paths.
NCCER and the American Fire Sprinkler Association updated our Sprinkler Fitting to reflect the latest NFPA codes, technology and more. Levels 1 – 2 were released in 2021.
NCCER and the National Concrete Masonry Association
, Mason Contractors Association of America and Florida Concrete Masonry Council jointly released digital online training with video and interactive augmentation for Masonry Levels 2 – 3.
NCCER has endorsed the National Glass Association’s Glazier Apprentice Curriculum, providing new opportunities for glazier programs. Students who complete the curriculum will earn a joint NGA/NCCER credential.
We partnered with CareerSafe to recognize their Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) 10-hour training in the NCCER Registry. With the joint goal to build a safer workforce, this collaboration ensures trainees and students have access to affordable safety training.
In addition, we released a Fast Track program, which includes CareerSafe, to help recruit unemployed Americans into the construction industry.
In August 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor approved the National Standards of Apprenticeship for the Alaska Safety Alliance for five pipeline occupations in an historic moment for Alaska and pipeline training across the country.
• Pipeline Maintenance Technician
• Pipeline Mechanical Technician
• Pipeline Operations Technician
• Pipeline E&I Technician
• Pipeline Corrosion Technician
Effective June 16, 2021, our Mobile Crane Operator Certification is now accepted by West Virginia. Our Mobile Crane Operator Certification Program consists of assessments and practical examinations that meet or exceed current ASME B30.5 consensus safety standards and OSHA 29 CFR Part 1926 Subpart CC.
As of Nov. 9, 2021, we have been recognized as a testing and certification agency for the issuance of crane operator licenses by the state of New Jersey.
To help prepare trainees to successfully pass state electricians’ licensing exams, we released the Journeyman Electrician Test Prep. With 600 practice questions, trainees can study from the 2017 or 2020 NEC.
Available through NCCER’s learning platform, these expertly written practice exams are available in both study and timed modes and are applicable in all 50 states.
Through various outreach initiatives, we worked to highlight the opportunities and possibilities that come with a career in construction. In 2021, we made major progress in crafting those messages and targeting them to the appropriate individuals. 12
With a fresh focus on Generation Z, BYF launched a redesigned website providing resources to students, families, educators and industry representatives emphasizing authenticity and the benefits of a career in construction. In addition, we launched “Young Craft Professionals” social media campaign. This Instagram-based effort showcases the work of young individuals and their work in the industry.
Nearly all states in the U.S. proclaimed, or filed to proclaim, Careers in Construction Month (CICM) in October. A record 47 states and territories joined the nationwide celebration of careers in construction. We also called on our industry and education colleagues to promote construction as a career path and pledge to share resources to reach students. To increase participation, we provided Classroom Activity Packs to the first 20 educators to sign the pledge.
• 79 from education
• 89 from industry
• 70.89% connected with students
• 478 schools contacted
• 28,980 students reached
• Lantz Construction Company donated to Massanutten Technical Center.
• Northeast Florida Builders Association donated to Lewis “Red” Bean Center.
• Riverside County Office of Education donated to Come Back Kids Charter School.
• Patrick & Henry Community College donated to Henry County Schools Career Academy.
$76,000 was awarded through the Build Your Future (BYF) scholarship program. Thank you to the following organizations for making this possible:
• Associated Builders and Contractors
• The Associated General Contractors of America
• Folds of Honor Foundation
• National Technical Honors Society
• Southeastern Construction Owners and Associates Roundtable
Since 2017, more than 1,500 veterans and military members have applied through the Hard Hat Heroes credentialing portal with 88% receiving FREE NCCER industry-recognized credentials.
In partnership with G.I. Jobs Magazine and 13 industry partners, we reached their 75,000 readers through a national advertisement promoting construction as a career to transitioning veterans.
2021 marked the seventh annual I BUILT THIS! video contest to give students and instructors from secondary and postsecondary craft training programs the chance to showcase their construction projects. With a record 35 submissions, the number of votes for People’s Choice hit an all-time high of 8,500
The following organizations have partnered with Build Your Future or contributed through additional contributions to their National Training Service Agreement:
• Associated Builders and Contractors
• Craft Training Center of the Coastal Bend
• Current Builders
• Fluor
• The Haskell Company
• ISC Constructors
• Pearson
Secondary Winner – Seth Hartman Carroll County Career and Technology Center Postsecondary Winner – Preston Harper ABC Virginia/Southern Air People’s Choice Winner – John Alcorn Carroll County Career and Technology CenterNCCER supports individuals, companies and associations throughout the United States and around the world. Our efforts can be seen in the students just starting their career, the communities benefiting from a well-trained and safe workforce and the new structures built by those individuals. Our work changes lives.
NCCER training
and/or
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• APEC Training Centre, Kazakhstan
• Caribbean Utilities Company, Ltd., Cayman Islands
• Construction Association of Bermuda, Bermuda
• Fortis TCI Limited, Turks and Caicos
• INPICRECE, Panama
• MCC Energy Groups Corporation, Canada
• National Institute of Technology (NIT), Saudi Arabia
• Servicio Nacional de Aprendizaje (SENA), Colombia
• Technical Higher Institute for Engineering & Petroleum (THIEP), Saudi Arabia
• Universidad de Ecopetrol, Colombia
• Yanbu Technical Institute, Saudi Arabia
We are proud to co-sponsor the winners of both the 2021 Associated Builders and Contractors Craft Instructor of the Year and Craft Professional of the Year with Tradesmen International.
Todd Swan, a carpentry instructor for the Franklin County Career and Technology Center and a training affiliate of the ABC Cumberland Valley Chapter, was named the 2021 Craft Instructor of the Year for his contributions to education through his leadership and teaching style.
Pat Wilburn, a senior superintendent at DynaTen Corporation, was named the 2021 Craft Professional of the Year for his level of expertise when it comes to elevating the plumbing industry with a focus on safety, hard work and dedication.
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Although the SkillsUSA national competition was conducted virtually in 2021, we continued to sponsor the carpentry and masonry competitions. We congratulate the winners from both contests, which included secondary and postsecondary competitors.
• Carpentry high school medalists were Conor Krochmalnyckyj of Fiskdale, Massachusetts (gold); Brendan Lee of Saratoga Springs, New York (silver); and Dakota Payne of Altamont, Kansas (bronze).
• Carpentry postsecondary medalists were Taydn Holmes of Vernal, Utah (gold); John Fetty of Cedar Rapids, Iowa (silver); and Ruben Alvarado of Ardmore, Oklahoma (bronze).
• Masonry high school medalists were Alex Davis of Danielson, Connecticut (gold); Eulices Casiano Lara of Grand Prairie, Texas (silver); and Hunter Cyrus of Rolla, Missouri (bronze).
• Masonry postsecondary medalists were Robert McKibben of Dallas, Texas (gold); Jacob Horton of Knoxville, Tennessee (silver); and Jacob Litewski of Leavenworth, Kansas (bronze).
Urban Construction Services, Bermuda SENA Cartagena, Colombia University College Cayman Islands, Cayman Islands S.A., MoroccoWe made more investment in our organization to better support the construction and maintenance industry.
$1,886,645 $299,849 $912,513 $(291) $1,094,582 $500,000 $426,846
$5,278
11,420,941
$ $3,466,078 $501,262 $808,161 $332 $393,340 $500,000 $108,588 $157,500 $1,032,764 $14,389,345
$3,564,977 $$617,624 $299,107 $32,553 $535,885 $$805,116 $1,265,067 $2,001,636
$848,555 $155,509 $336,253 $204,604 $$10,666,886
$3,692,792 $180,009 $1,179,059 $306,413 $15,984 $765,758 $278,223 $833,197 $1,648,909 $2,809,540 $22,284 $1,042,657 $340,378 $514,773 $189,752 $70,118 $13,889,845
Our organization’s success doesn’t just come from within our own walls. The support from our trustees, partners and other contributors gives us the means to fulfill our mission.
Nicole Calamaio
Sundt Construction
David Chapin
Willmar Electric Service
J. Charles Dabadie ExxonMobil
Alicia Edsen
Kiewit Corporation
Connie Fabré
Greater Baton Rouge Industry Alliance, Inc. (GBRIA)
Daniel Groves
Construction Users Roundtable (CURT)
Glen Gulino
ISC Constructors
Dr. Ray Issa
M.E. Rinker, Sr. School of Construction Management, University of Florida
Michael Kenig
Holder Construction
Tyler London Dow Jeff Lynn Central Alabama Community College
Sam Lyon Bechtel
Brendan McAndrews McAndrews Glass
Stephen P. Mulva, Ph.D. Construction Industry Institute
Ken Nixon
Shell Deepwater Gulf of Mexico
Tony Rader
National Roofing Partners
Rudy Ramirez Zachry Group
Robin Renschen McCarthy Building Companies, Inc.
Tricia Thibodeaux Fluor
Chelle Travis SkillsUSA
LeAnn Wilson Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE)
Michael Bennett, 2020 Immediate Past Chairman & Co-Chair NCCER Council of Past Chairs Cianbro Companies
Stephen Toups, Chairman Turner Industries
Scott Marshall, Vice Chairman Worley Monique V. Ford, Treasurer Monique Valentine Ford, CPA
Andy Dupuy, Co-Chair NCCER Council of Past Chairs Brown & Root
Thanks for your continued support.
