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Launch of the Construction Sector Partnership

Published Friday Sep 14, 2018

Launch of the Construction Sector Partnership

Construction industry leaders from across New Hampshire will announce the launch of the Construction Sector Partnership (CSP) at Construction Career Day on September 27 in New Boston. CSP, co-led by Wayne Symonds, executive vice president at Methuen Construction Company based in Plaistow, and Alex Phelps, vice president of construction at Pike Industries based in Belmont, is focused on promoting careers in construction.

According to a statement, CSP is the fifth Sector Partnerships Initiative (SPI), and comprises companies involved in heavy construction like municipal water treatment systems and road building, electric and telecommunication infrastructure, civil engineering, heating/ventilation/air conditioning businesses and more. Occupations in the sector include equipment operators, carpenters, welders, civil engineers, safety professionals, surveyors, plumbers, and many others.

Symonds and Phelps will guide an advisory group made up of experienced construction industry experts working with workforce development professionals, the education community, local economic development professionals and others to help highlight outstanding career opportunities.

NH’s construction sector represented about 32,000 jobs in 2017, with a projected 3 percent increase between 2018 and 2022. In 2016 alone, the Granite State’s roughly 4,500 construction-related companies posted 1,625 job openings, illustrating how competitive the sector’s hiring market is already.

“As we have seen with the other NH SPI sectors, an industry led sector partnership can bring together critical stakeholders to develop and implement a coordinated strategy to significantly expand and enhance the talent pipeline for the construction industry, as well as address other critical challenges,” says Co-Chair Wayne Symonds of Methuen Construction.

“Statewide sector partnerships will build upon the many assets, strong programs, and existing local and regional partnerships already in place while potentially expanding them to include new approaches and outreach to new groups of workers,” says Co-Chair Phelps of Pike.

Most entry-level positions in the construction sector do not require significant postsecondary training, but does require specialized on-the-job experience or apprenticeship.

More than 1,900 high school students from 54 middle and high schools will attend 10th annual NH Construction Career Days, which is intended to bring students together with construction and transportation industries to explore career options through hands-on activities.

The Sector Partnerships Initiative is a new industry-driven state-wide effort to help New Hampshire businesses in targeted industries address workforce needs. Focusing on five core industries – construction, health care, hospitality, manufacturing and technology – SPI assists companies in finding funding and training resources that provide employees with improved skills and career advancement opportunities. SPI also helps companies create a network to convene and collaborate with other companies on a regular basis to identify shared hiring, training and retention needs.

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