EDUCATION AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT Creating Pathways for Youth


Hensel Phelps Providing Construction Career Opportunities, Education Through Innovative Youth Engagement Program


By Carol Eaton


Hensel Phelps has been building more than just a brand new courthouse and judicial office building complex for Alameda County and the Adminis- tration Office of the Courts. Te AGC member contractor has


A


also been creating pathways of oppor- tunities for local youth. Tis summer, the Hensel Phelps


Hall of Justice team sponsored and conducted a series of innovative educa- tional sessions for Oakland area youth designed to introduce them to the many careers choices available to them in the construction industry. Developed in concert with


outreach and marketing consultancy partner, Redwood Resources, the youth engagement programs – dubbed “Because of Construction, I Can…” – collectively reached over 30 inner city youth during two 6-week workshops held at the jobsite from June through mid-September. During six Tuesdays in each session, groups of 14-18-year- olds traveled by bus from Oakland to Hensel Phelps’ Hall of Justice project to attend the two-hour workshops featuring classroom and jobsite observation activities as well as dinner for the participants. Students had the chance to learn about the many diverse opportunities in the industry, tour the project, hone their resumes and interview skills, meet with various local union trade representatives, and more. In order to identify youth who


would benefit from the program, Hensel Phelps and Redwood Resources reached out to several important community partners


20 November/December 2016


Some of those participating in various aspects of the Hensel Phelps youth engagement sessions are, left to right, Terrez Carr (Redwood Resources), Schenae Rourk (Redwood Resources), Scott Bills (Hensel Phelps), Gabriela Christy (Supervisor Richard Valle’s office), Shomari Carter (Supervisor Keith Carson’s office), and John Petty (Hensel Phelps East County Hall of Justice Project Manager).


according to Schenae Rourk, Principal at Redwood Resources. “Our community partners were


instrumental in helping us make sure we had a good mix of students that were going through the program,” Rourk said. Among those organi- zations were Building Our Self Sufficiency (BOSS), the East Oakland Development Center, Youth Uprising, and Cypress Mandela Training Center. Te Oakland Public Library’s teen center provided the teens space where they could use public computers to participate in the social and online component of the program, which included videos created by Hensel Phelps execs and local elected officials who supported the program. Hensel Phelps Project Manager


John Petty, who spearheaded the youth engagement program, said the overarching goal was threefold. “First, we wanted to introduce the


youth to the construction industry, and show them it’s more than just digging ditches and building fences,” Petty said. “Our second goal was to showcase


the many different aspects of the industry, from trades, to engineering and design, to the general contractor, to the owner/developer groups. Finally, the third goal was to provide oppor- tunities to the youth (to work) in our industry. At the end of the sixth week, we brought in union business agents and had them introduce themselves to the youth and outline the next steps if they decide they are interested.” Te positive impact the program


had on many of the students has been apparent, according to Petty. “At first the youth were a little bit


standoffish,” he noted. “But the minute they get out to our site and go on a tour of our building, it changes 180 degrees. You can see it in the attitude, you can see it in the questions they ask, and you can see it in their faces. It’s like a whole other world that these kids just haven’t experienced before.” Rourk gave strong credit to Hensel


Phelps for its efforts leading the industry’s charge to help develop the next generation workforce, not only through this program but also a similar


California Constructor


t its East County Hall of Justice project under construction in Dublin, CA,


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24