McCarthy Building Companies recently unveiled its new multifunctional Innovation and Craft Workforce Center (ICWC) in Chandler, Arizona. The facility serves as home to the firm’s craft workforce training, providing career development opportunities for those in the trades and the next generation of craft workers.
The 40,000-sq-ft, two-story facility, serves the firm’s approximately 500 Arizona-based and 2,000 regional craft professionals and trade partners. It will be utilized to conduct discipline-specific craft training, prefabricate and modularize components for installation on McCarthy projects, provide space for McCarthy’s craft-focused teams and to house equipment. The ICWC also includes the firm’s integrated design department, self-perform teams, the solar group’s O&M control center, an equipment maintenance and storage area, additional office space, and an outside yard featuring a BBQ /dining area for team-building events.
The facility will also support the development of Arizona’s future construction trade workforce through partnering with local Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs, such as the East Valley Institute of Technology (EVIT), Western Maricopa Education Center (West-MEC), ACE Mentor Program of America, and various other K-12 and college programs.
“The need to develop a more robust skilled craft workforce has intensified in recent years with the population growth in Arizona and across the Southwest, requiring communities to expand on the construction of critical infrastructure and facilities,” said Justin Kelton, president of McCarthy’s Southwest region. “With our new best-in-class Innovation and Craft Workforce Center, McCarthy is doubling down on its commitment to our craft professionals and helping to train the next generation of those skilled in the trades, while also providing our clients with value-add innovations that improve their projects.”
According to the National Center for Construction Education & Research, the U.S. currently lacks approximately 430,000 construction workers. Moreover, 80% of construction employers struggle to fill hourly craft jobs or salaried professional positions. Due to this workforce shortage, craft professionals can find competitive pay in the construction industry. In fact, workers in construction now earn an average of 18.1% more per hour than in the private sector as a whole.
News item from McCarthy