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Workforce development needs for industry are great.


With New York City New York City: see New York, city.
New York City

City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S.
 about to undergo a multi-billion dollar surge in large scale building projects, the construction industry is vastly unprepared to meet the anticipated demand for qualified workers.

With this in mind, the Building Trades Employers' Association (BTEA BTEA Back to Education Allowance (Ireland)
BTEA Block Tiny Encryption Algorithm
) has called for the creation of new workforce training and recruitment initiatives for the professional, managerial and administrative sectors of our industry.

For years, organized labor Organized Labor

An association of workers united as a single, representative entity for the purpose of improving the workers' economic status and working conditions through collective bargaining with employers. Also known as "unions".
 has tapped into an apprenticeship system for their labor needs. However, contractors of all sizes are on their own, and forced to recruit and train on an individual basis. This is an ineffective process and cost prohibitive.

The initiatives, part of a report entitled "Building Jobs: A Blueprint for the New New York New New York is the name of three futuristic cities modelled on New York City:
  • For the city in Futurama, see List of Futurama places#New New York
  • For the city on New Earth (known in full as "New New New New New New New New New New New New New New New York") in
," were crafted by the BTEA and released last year. It presents the first in-depth analysis of these three areas.

If we do not begin preparing today, bold plans for rebuilding Lower Manhattan Lower Manhattan is the southernmost part of the island of Manhattan, the main island and center of business and government of the City of New York. Lower Manhattan is generally defined as the area delineated on the north by Chambers Street, on the west by the Hudson River (North , creating Olympic venues, and building new commercial and residential facilities could be in jeopardy. Our initiatives will allow New York New York, state, United States
New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of
 to be prepared and competitive.

The City's looming "building boom" is evident in projects such as the redevelopment of Lower Manhattan and Downtown Brooklyn Coordinates:

Downtown Brooklyn is the third largest central business district in New York City (following Midtown Manhattan and Lower Manhattan), and is located in the
, the Hudson Yards Plan, and the Brooklyn arena.

Initiatives recommended in the report include the following:

* Creation of a New York City Building and Construction Career Academy

The academy would be modeled after the construction industry's successful school-o work Construction Skills 2000 program, which has placed hundred of NYC NYC
abbr.
New York City


NYC New York City
 high-school graduates into the skilled trades apprentice programs.

* Establishment of a New York City Council The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of the City of New York. It comprises 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five boroughs. The Council serves as balance of power against the mayor in a "strong" mayor-council government model.  of Colleges for Construction

By linking educational resources provided by colleges and universities citywide, the Council would offer internship programs, promote the construction industry as a career option for students, and identify new employees for the professional, managerial and administrative sector of the industry.

* Establishment of a "Construction Clearinghouse" for the recruitment of new personnel

The clearinghouse would help address construction companies' recruitment needs and serve as a central point of contact for individuals interested in working in the professional, managerial and administrative sector of the industry.

In addition to the workforce initiatives, the report also includes an economic and demographic analysis Demographic analysis uses administrative records to develop an independent estimate of the population [1]. Demographic analysis estimates are often considered a reliable standard for judging the accuracy of the census information gathered at any time.  characterizing the construction industry as one of the leaders in private sector job growth in the New York City economy.

The 54-page report took over one year to complete and was underwritten by a grant from the Consortium for Worker Education (CWE CWE Cold Water Extraction
CWE Common Weakness Enumeration (trademark of MITRE Corporation)
CWE Cooperative Work Experience
CWE Center for Women & Enterprise
CWE Collaborative Work Environment
), a private, not-for-profit agency that provides employment-related education, training and economic development programs. The Fiscal Policy Institute (FPI FPI Formal Public Identifier
FPI Front Populaire Ivoirien (French: Ivorian Popular Front, Icory Coast)
FPI Federal Prison Industries, Inc.
FPI Front Pembela Islam (Indonesian: Islamic Defenders Front) 
), a nonpartisan research and education organization that focuses on fiscal, economic and labor market labor market A place where labor is exchanged for wages; an LM is defined by geography, education and technical expertise, occupation, licensure or certification requirements, and job experience  issues, wrote the strategic plan.

In partnership with government and the education system, our report sets the framework for our industry to be fully prepared to meet the extraordinary workforce challenges of the coming decades.

In addition to initiatives to address workforce demands, "Building Jobs: A Blueprint for the New New York" offers an economic and demographic analysis of the construction industry. Below is a summary of some major findings.

* Once construction begins on large projects throughout the city, 90 percent of BTEA member contractors would hire new workers, with 42 percent eager to begin hiring over the next 12 months.

* The construction industry is approaching an "aging out" period. Over the past ten years, the percentage of construction workers in the 20-30 age group declined from 40.5 percent to 26.5 percent. The percentage of workers in the 41-50 age group increased from 18 percent to 26 percent.

* Construction will be one of the leading sectors of job growth in the New York City economy over the next few years.

* Construction is a $13 billion industry employing more than 250,000 workers in the region.

* Contractors have identified 5 areas of employment need (project managers, assistant project managers, cost estimators, superintendents, administrative assistants).

The construction industry's significant labor needs rest not only within the skilled labor sector, but also within the professional, managerial and administrative sectors. If we do not meet these workforce challenges head on, contractors from outside New York will get a foothold in the city and deny New Yorkers and the city the tremendous economic benefits that our industry brings.

For a copy of "Building Jobs: A Blueprint for the New New York," feel free to contact Mr. Coletti at 212-704-9745 or via email at ljcbtea@aol.com.
COPYRIGHT 2005 Hagedorn Publication
No portion of this article can be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder.
Copyright 2005, Gale Group. All rights reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.

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Title Annotation:Inside Construction & Design
Author:Coletti, Louis J.
Publication:Real Estate Weekly
Geographic Code:1USA
Date:Feb 23, 2005
Words:728
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