January 15, 2019 STURGEON ELECTRIC HOSTS ELECTRICAL OPEN HOUSE FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS
COLORADO TEENS GET HANDS-ON FEEL FOR THE INDUSTRY
It’s no secret that the construction industry faces major challenges due to a shortage of skilled labor. The effect is global. MYR Group subsidiaries and electricians’ unions alike are experiencing difficulties in drawing younger generations into the trades. However, one MYR Group subsidiary in Henderson, Colo. recently took on that challenge with an innovative approach.
Sturgeon Electric formed a partnership to reach out to high school students nearing graduation.
“We’ve hosted open houses and college outreach efforts in the past, with some good success but we want to connect with the high school market as well,” Dan Hart, manpower coordinator for Sturgeon Electric Company, Inc. explained. “We found a partnership opportunity with Colorado Construction Careers (CCC), a joint project between the State of Colorado, the Colorado Building and Construction Trades Council, and the MEP Alliance of Colorado Contractors.”
“We are able to bring them in to tour our headquarters and fabrication shop and give them a little taste of the trade and a sense of the opportunities for rapid career advancement. It’s a really proactive way of not only drawing tomorrow’s young electricians to the trade, but also it shows them how fun and rewarding working here at Sturgeon can be.”
– Dan Hart, Sturgeon Electric
The high-schoolers got hands-on opportunities to try welding, threading GRC conduit, cutting steel with a well saw, bending large pipe, and building power cable assemblies. Dan’s group provided lunch, shared a presentation, and had several guest speakers share why they enjoy working in the electrical industry.
“We are going to keep staying engaged with CCC and the local high schools to access communication with their building trade students; we’ve already been invited to sit in on classes at Prairie View High School in the future and interact with the students,” Hart added.
Kudos to Dan Hart, Haylee Radeke, and Henderson’s Manufacturing and Manpower teams, for finding creative ways to help recruit tomorrow’s talent.
