Skilled Build graduates its first class of construction workers
By Nancy Lasher
The first Skilled Build training session was capped off on March 18th with a celebratory luncheon for graduates and their families. The room was full of happy accomplishment, tears of joy, and hopeful anticipation. After six weeks of long days, early hours, credentialing classes, hands-on training, and tests, nineteen young men and women were ready to break into the burgeoning construction industry.
Prior to this training these graduates had been selected as the inaugural Skilled Build class after careful screening by St. Nicks Alliance. Instruction given by St Nicks Alliance, Genesus Construction Training, and NY Safety and Training, provided experience in the realities of working construction and their NCCER Construction Core credential, Flagger and Scaffolding certifications, and the OSHA 10 — the bare minimum needed to work on any construction site.
David Turner, President of Genesus, saw the graduates as the quality of workers he would hire into his own construction company, and Mr. Carrington who oversaw the hands-on training said “It’s the best group we’ve ever trained.”
A few days before graduation, the entire class was on site at the former Domino Sugar plant currently in re-development to meet with Jeremy Armstrong, head of construction for Two Trees, and his other construction supervisors. One participant took in the environment — teeming with construction materials and equipment and bustling with 80 workers — and said, “This is where I want to work. I want to start at the ground level, get a sense of what I’m good at, and then work in that trade.” Thanks to the Skilled Build partnership between Two Trees, St Nicks, and others, he’ll get his chance.
St Nicks is currently enrolling for its second cycle of training. We also seek experienced construction workers looking for employment. Call 718 302-2054 x 231 for further information.
