June 18 Meeting Recap
The June 18 CFMA Siouxland meeting kicked off at 8:30 AM with a business meeting. Committee chairs provided brief updates on activity going on at the committee level. New member, Brenda Moore, was welcomed as our 50th chapter member! President Kit Gleason also shared that the board will be looking to fill Ben Ellison's board seat in the next month, and that anyone interested in this opportunity is encouraged to contact a current board member. We thank Ben for his years of service on behalf of CFMA!
Following the business meeting, we had the opportunity to hear multiple speakers on the topic of "Addressing the Skilled Trade Worker Shortage." Jim Kayl, Principal of the Career & Technical Education Academy, spoke first regarding the purpose and growing success of this state-of-the-art academy. He discussed the hands-on opportunities that the program provides for numerous high school students in Sioux Falls and the surrounding communities. He also mentioned that there are internships being offered as well for those who may have interest in pursuing that opportunity. Jim emphasized that the academy is for all students regardless of whether the student plans to attend a four year school, a two year technical institution, or join the workforce immediately following high school.
Following the presentation by Jim Kayl, we had the opportunity to hear Kari Karst, President of BX Civil & Construction, and Ben Holst, Director of Safety & Workforce Development for AGC of South Dakota, share the steps and activity that the AGC South Dakota Workforce Development Taskforce is pursuing to combat the workforce challenges we are facing. They spoke about the skills gap facing our industry, and the efforts being provided in the area of education to assist in capturing that "intellectual capital" before the generation characterizing the workforce moves into retirement. In addition, they shared the focus and activities of the four subcommittees of the taskforce:
(1) Potential - focused on high school and elementary students
(2) Emerging - focused on young people in post-secondary programs
(3) Career - focused on training and development of current construction industry workers
(4) HR Alliance - focused on member employees who handle human resources
We encourage you to check out the AGC of South Dakota website at http://www.sdagc.org/ for additional information!
The meeting was informative and provided opportunities to network with other members as well. Following the meeting, lunch was provided, and then many attendees gathered their clubs and made their way onto the course for the annual charity golf tournament, which was another great success.
We look forward to seeing you at our upcoming jobsite tours, scheduled for Wednesday, July 30!
Joel Van Egdom
Public Relations Committee Chair
Siouxland Chapter of CFMA