The 3Rs: I Am “We”!

On December 18, 2008, I had the esteemed honor and pleasure of being recognized by the St. Louis Council of Construction Consumers as the 2008 Diversity Champion in the St. Louis construction industry. Below you will find excerpts from my acceptance speech which focused on the 3Rs. No, not the 3Rs we remember from our days in the 20th century K-12 school system model known as reading, writing, and arithmetic. Rather the 3Rs Dr. Willard Daggett refers to as rigor, relevance, and relationships in the 21st century.

Rigor
In today’s world hardly a day goes by when we are not exposed to the matter of accountability. In the construction industry, a number of organizations are dedicated to ensuring that the topic of diversity is something more than words on paper. As a matter of fact, and to the dismay of a few present here today, Program Evaluation Methods was the final course in my quest towards a doctoral degree…a subject I found to be applicable to my world of work. To this end, ACCESS is an organization that is made-up of many stakeholders in the construction industry: owners, contractors, labor, CBOs, etc.

One of ACCESS’ main functions is to provide program evaluation services in a standardized manner. Consequently, this allows the general public to gauge the effectiveness of the 11-plus pre-apprenticeship programs in this region. It is these pre-apprenticeship programs that purport to provide a pathway for non-traditional members of our society into the construction industry and, thusly, living wage jobs. And, since many of these programs cannot survive without federal funding, it is high-time that we — as taxpayers — insist that these pre-apprenticeship programs deliver measurable results! In this age of accountability, we can no longer be satisfied with merely the grass being greener and the sky being bluer.  To this end, I commend MoDOT for taking steps to achieve this goal by implementing an outcomes-based pay-for-performance training model on the I-64 project.

Relevance
The construction industry I have dealt with for the past 30 years is certainly a demand-driven sector of our economy. Portable, industry recognized credentials are in-place because owners and/or contractors insisted that construction workers exhibit safe and productive work habits. Not to mention, labor unions have supported efforts to create safer and more productive environments for their members as evidenced through the OSHA 10 training, drug testing, and various journey-level upgrade courses offered.

Additionally, some aspects of our industry have chosen to take matters one step further by placing emphasis on functional literacy skills (i.e., reading for information, applied math, and locating information). As students, apprentices, journeyworkers, teachers, trainers, or managers, it is incumbent upon us to speak a common language of learning. Unlike high school transcripts where an “A” in geometry in St. Louis may differ from the “A” in geometry in Chicago, ACT’s WorkKeys provides a tool to accomplish this goal. Let it be known that these efforts have had such a positive impact on our industry that most of the pre-apprenticeship programs mentioned above —serving as feeders to the 15-plus joint apprenticeship programs—have redesigned their curricula to address these industry-relevant, portable credentials.

Relationships
This award bestowed upon me today is the result of input from the many groups and individuals who have touched my life. As follows:

Labor: Believe me, I could not do what I do without the support and inspiration from Terry Nelson, the CDC’s Executive Board, and our 22,000 union members.
Management- I have deep respect for John Mulligan and Angelo Lancia from the AGC, Bob Behlman and Dave Marxkors from the HBA, Tim Wies and Dan Wienstroer from the WCCA, and Tony Prince and Mike Grigaitis from the FIC. (There is no doubt in my mind that the St. Louis Carpenters Joint Apprenticeship Program is the largest federally-approved apprenticeship program in Missouri because of the true partnership between labor and management. As noted, the operative word “joint” does not refer to the item one may smoke but rather the importance of potentially opposing forces working together towards a common goal and what is best for our industry!)

Owners: I appreciate people like Sandra Marks representing Washington University and the SLCCC’s Dennis LaValle…their open minds allowed a non-owner (me) to sit at their diversity table and discuss matters of common interest. Additionally, I would be remiss in not thanking the MoDOT crew: Peter Rahn, Ed Hassinger, and Leslie Hofarth. If we are committed to diversifying this industry, their pre-apprenticeship training model must be considered beyond the public works sector.

CBOs/FBOs: Groups such as Operation Excel’s YouthBuild, Metropolitan Congregations United, local and state Workforce Investment Boards are vital organizations in keeping construction’s stakeholders engaged in doing the right thing.

Schools: Dr. Randy Dillon from the Special School District, Lori Sommer and Gwen Crimm from the Construction Careers Center, and Dr. Deborah Henry from St. Louis Community College all assist this industry by supporting various efforts at the youth and adult levels. I am also grateful to Jim Duane at UMSL for spearheading the WorkKeys profiles and assessments mentioned above.

Government: The US-DOL’s Office of Apprenticeship establishes nationally-recognized standards that ensure our industry’s training programs competitively meet the demand-driven needs of a global marketplace.

Friends: Thanks to Jim Ebeling and Tom Rhodenbaugh for their ongoing fatherly-advice and to my co-workers: Mark Fuchs, Craig Hood, Marvin Sanders, Debbie Augustine, Ginger Fearheiley and others not present. In addition, Alan Richter’s progressive business mind has brought a breath of fresh air into addressing small contractors’ needs.

Family: To my mother, father, children, and wonderful wife…Thank You!

As I reflect on leadership clichés, the one that comes to mind here is that there is no “I” in team. However, upon further review, there is a “me” in team. Therefore, since this award would not be possible without the relationships just cited, I propose the following: I am not me…I am “we”!

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