Building the Construction Workforce Before Graduation

Building the Construction Workforce Before Graduation

The construction industry has talked about the skilled labor shortage for years.

But what if part of the solution isn't simply finding more workers today?

What if it's helping young people discover the possibilities of construction — and other rewarding careers — before they ever leave high school?

That's the idea behind EPIC Campus in Colorado, where education and industry are working together to give students hands-on exposure to real career pathways.

In a recent episode of Management Under Construction, Dee Davis spoke with Mark Finer and Beth Best of EPIC Campus about how the program works, how industry partners are involved, and why preparing students for the workforce requires much more than teaching technical skills.

Choosing Career Pathways With the Workforce in Mind

One of the most interesting aspects of the EPIC model is how career pathways are selected.

Student interest matters, but it isn't the only consideration.

The team also looks at workforce demand, regional employment gaps, wages, expected retirements, credential requirements and whether a career offers students meaningful long-term opportunities.

That distinction is important.

Career education works best when students aren't simply being trained to perform a task. They're being introduced to careers that can offer them a viable future.

For industries such as construction, where companies continue to need qualified workers, that creates an important connection between education and workforce development.

Let Students Test-Drive a Career

Teenagers are often expected to make major decisions about their futures without having experienced many of the careers available to them.

EPIC takes a different approach.

Students have opportunities to explore careers while they're still in high school. They can gain hands-on experience, work toward credentials and interact directly with people already doing the work.

That means a student can discover that a particular career is right for them.

Just as importantly, they can discover that it isn't.

Both outcomes have value.

A student who changes direction at 16 or 17 after gaining real-world exposure has learned something important about themselves without first investing years in a path that wasn't a good fit.

Industry Isn't Outside the Classroom

Beth Best serves as an industry partnership coordinator, creating a bridge between education and employers.

That relationship is central to the EPIC model.

Industry professionals can help shape learning, participate in classrooms, host workplace visits and expose students to the realities of different careers.

But Mark Finer makes an important point about those relationships: they should be mutually beneficial.

Instead of only asking businesses what they can contribute to the school, EPIC asks employers what the school can do for them.

What skills do they need?

Where are the workforce gaps?

What could students learn today that would make them stronger employees tomorrow?

That creates a true partnership rather than a one-way request for industry support.

A Site Visit Isn't a Field Trip

One of the simplest examples from the conversation may also be one of the most powerful.

At EPIC, a workplace or construction site visit is treated as part of class — not as a field trip.

Students are expected to follow workplace rules.

They may need to park off site. They need appropriate footwear and PPE. They need to arrive on time and be prepared.

Those expectations teach something that can't always be captured in a textbook.

What does it mean to show up ready to work?

Employers know that technical knowledge alone doesn't make someone a great employee. Reliability, communication, teamwork, professionalism, problem solving and attitude matter too.

Teaching those expectations alongside technical skills helps narrow the gap between being ready to graduate and being ready to work.

Representation Changes What Students Believe Is Possible

There's another important piece of workforce development: students need to be able to picture themselves in the career.

That's why EPIC intentionally exposes students to a variety of people working in industry, including women, Latino professionals and younger apprentices.

A veteran executive can tell students that construction offers tremendous opportunities.

But sometimes the person who makes the greatest impression is a 20-year-old apprentice who was sitting in a high school classroom only a few years earlier.

That student can look at the apprentice and think:

"I could do that."

Representation doesn't just tell students that an opportunity exists. It can make that opportunity feel attainable.

When Industry Says, “Why Wait?”

The development of EPIC's RV technician pathway offers an example of what can happen when industry and education move quickly together.

Rather than waiting years to develop a traditional program, industry partners recognized an opportunity to begin preparing students for actual workforce needs.

The pathway created a route for students to gain specialized training and move toward internships and employment.

It's an example of a larger lesson for workforce development: education doesn't always have to operate several steps behind industry.

With strong partnerships, the two can evolve together.

Construction Has an Opportunity

The construction industry's workforce challenge won't be solved with a single program.

But programs like EPIC demonstrate what's possible when employers become active participants in career education.

Companies can host students.

They can provide jobsite tours.

They can send employees and apprentices into classrooms.

They can help educators understand which skills are most needed.

They can offer internships, mentoring and employment opportunities.

Perhaps most importantly, they can show young people that construction isn't simply "a job."

It encompasses skilled trades, project management, technology, design, engineering, leadership, entrepreneurship and numerous other career paths.

Students can't choose careers they don't know exist.

Building a Workforce Starts Earlier Than We Think

Workforce development doesn't begin when a company posts a job opening.

It can begin years earlier, when a student walks onto a jobsite for the first time, meets someone working in a trade they've never considered, learns to use industry equipment or realizes there is a career path that matches their abilities and interests.

EPIC Campus is creating opportunities for those moments to happen while students still have time to explore.

For the construction industry, that's an idea worth paying attention to.

Because if we want a stronger workforce tomorrow, we may need to start building it today.

Want to learn more about EPIC Campus?

EPIC Campus offers career-focused pathways in areas including Construction Trades, Aerospace, Computer Science, Health Sciences, Business & Entrepreneurship, Natural Resources and Future Educator.

Learn more about its programs, work-based learning opportunities and industry partnerships at:

https://www.littletonpublicschools.net/o/epiccampus

And listen to Dee Davis's full conversation with Mark Finer and Beth Best on Management Under Construction:

🎧 Listen to the episode here (S4 E09): 👉 https://www.yspe.co/podcasts/management-under-construction/episodes/2149249632