Construction trades: a highly productive line

Published 11:24 am Friday, February 1, 2008

One of the most thought-provoking stories of the past year appeared in The Herald on Sept. 3. The headline was “Good jobs, few takers.”

As I recently passed through Bellevue with my eldest son, Rick, on our way home from my grandson’s wrestling tournament, this article returned to my thoughts. As we drove, Rick was discussing his role in completing several new structures built along our course of travel. My sons, Rick and Sean, are both members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and have supervised electrical contracting on many major building projects in Snohomish and King counties.

Why, I thought, is it so difficult to get talented young men and women into this line of endeavor?

Some suspect there is a belief that you have failed if you don’t graduate from college. I know this argument doesn’t hold water, because both of my boys completed an exhaustive, math-intensive, five-year scholastic program to become journeymen electricians.

Others believe that tests such as the WASL have crowded vocational programs out of schools. I know that test-mandated school programs have a devastating effect on electives, so I’m sure vocational classes are affected.

Some say today’s kids are too lazy to work.

I tend to believe that, while all these may be factors, it may simply be a combination of not knowing what the construction field really accomplishes and perhaps an elitist attitude on the part of our culture.

In my teaching career I often talked to groups of seniors about planning for the future. I remember discussing construction, detailing the excellent wages and feeling of accomplishment my sons have experienced.

Once, out of the blue, a young lady declared, “but what do they really do for society, what do they accomplish beyond making a good wage?”

If we examine that question, perhaps we can provide some answers to the “no takers” factor identified in the Herald article.

What does the construction industry accomplish?

Sean supervised electrical contracting on the second stage of the Snohomish County Jail project. As a result of this project, inmates will experience a more humane, productive environment and jail personnel will be safer, as will the public.

Following this job, Sean oversaw a renovation project on Westlake Avenue in Seattle.

This facility is run by an organization called FareStart. It provides a training workplace in the culinary arts for people trying to lift themselves up by the bootstraps after their jobs went south. It also functions as a working restaurant, providing on-the-job training for service personnel.

Is it likely this facility is significant to the many people who learn a trade and have a chance to once again earn a livable wage, a workplace that is well-built and thoughtfully constructed?

Sean’s most recent job is a Boys’ and Girls’ Club in the Central Area of Seattle, providing very needy kids a place to learn and grow, and to experience positive adult and peer interaction.

One of Rick’s past projects was the expansion of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center on Eastlake Avenue in Seattle. How many lives are saved because there are more and better facilities for treatment and training?

Every job Rick has supervised, including renovations and additions at Microsoft in Redmond as well as several major structures in King and Snohomish counties, provides another workplace for our booming economy.

Let’s consider that concept.

Yes, booming. While the United States wrings its hands at the threat of a recession, the Pacific Northwest has an economy that shows few signs of a downturn.

I believe we can thank the men and women in our construction industry for this. Through their efforts and talent we have met the challenges of growth that keep an economy moving forward.

Early in his career, Rick led a project in which I have always taken great pride.

The former Scott Paper, now Kimberly-Clark, instituted a plan to generate usable energy as they consumed energy. This project was really ahead of its time. At a time when we were using so much energy with no retrieval, this was really cutting-edge business.

I remember being proud that Rick could be a part of so worthwhile an endeavor.

But as I think now, it is clear how much like that cogeneration project today’s construction industry is.

As the “cogen” project “made power as it used power,” so do these fine men and women in the industry create jobs as they do their jobs. Without their efforts, the economic stability we see in the Pacific Northwest would not exist.

My hat is off to the construction industry, and I can only hope that more young people can recognize its tremendous role in keeping our economy rolling.

Maybe if we really look at this contribution, the “no takers” aspect will fade, and the “good jobs” aspect will prevail.

Freelance writer Bruce W. Burns, a retired teacher and coach, lives in Marysville. He can be contacted at crookedelbow1@msn.com.