Ohio Contractors Association Funds Innovative High School Outreach

A few years ago, Dave Finley looked around at the construction industry and decided if the industry was going to make any headway in its efforts to attract young people, it was going to have to find a “ground game,” to borrow a football term. He took his decades of experience working for public relations and the Ohio Department of transportation and hatched a plan to go meet high school students and counselors, in small groups: enter the construction career mobile. Then, he took his idea to the Ohio Contractors Association (the statewide AGC highway chapter), the International Union of Operating Engineers, and the Laborers International Union of North America. The three organizations agreed to back his idea, a costly proposition, with each providing more than $100,000 to buy and outfit the career mobile. The annual budget of about $250,000 is still split evenly among the three groups. “This is not flashy. This is one-on-one direct marketing,” says Mr. Finley, who has spoken directly to 14,000 high school students and 1,100 guidance counselors since the truck was put on the road in January 2007. “I think they’re both very important audiences,” he says, adding that he meets separately with students and counselors. While getting access to the schools is certainly no problem now – by early last month he already was booked through April 2009 - in the beginning, it was a bit of work to persuade schools that their students needed to learn about careers in construction. He used his pre-experience and his determination to sift through websites of high schools all over Ohio. “I found the names of counselors and sent them personal emails that talked about their school and their community. It took hundreds of hours.” However, the payoff was huge, with 90 percent of the schools agreeing to set up visits with their students. Mr. Finley typically spends at least one full day at each school, sometimes as much as a week if it’s a career center, which typically serves more than one high school and offers vocational programs, such as masonry, carpentry, welding, etc. There are 60 career centers in Ohio and Mr. Finley calls them “a primary source for the industry’s labor pool,” adding that he could book 70 percent of his time just visiting the state’s career centers. He meets the students around the career mobile’s conference table, which holds eight people at a time. “If I go into a classroom or an auditorium, I’m just another guest speaker and not every pays attention. But, if I meet them in the career mobile, the students are lively and full of questions.” The truck was outfitted to be flashy with lots of color, brochures and a front-end loader equipment simulator at one end. He talks with the students about the industry, about the variety of jobs, including the crafts, civil engineering, construction technology and construction management. “We’re offering something that gives hopes to some kids that haven’t been exposed to something they can do. I feel like we’ve made a difference. I can see lights come on in both students and counselors.” Mr. Finley sends each student home with a 12-page brochure “Your Career in Highway Construction” that includes toll-free phone numbers for the Operating Engineers’ and the Laborers’ statewide apprenticeship offices. When students call, they are connected to a real person who is highly skilled at his job. Students are asked what county they live in and then are given the address and phone number of the local union, plus information on when the local will next be taking applications. The feedback from the unions has been very positive. “The phones are ringing, applications are being made,” says Mr. Finley. Unfortunately the unions have not been tracking how many students actually make it through the application process into the apprenticeship programs, something he is working with them to change. “The key is to take the young person by the hand and encourage them at every step of the way.” He also has individual brochures from each union, as well as AGC of America’s Hot Jobs/Cool Careers brochure. For the guidance counselors, Mr. Finley concentrates on the wages and benefits, the free training, and, because most of them don’t understand work by contract, he explains how highway construction contractors bid and win Department of Transportation jobs. “I feel like we’ve made a difference. I can see the lights come on in both students and counselors.” It definitely is a labor of love. Mr. Finley spends more than 200 nights in hotels each year. He typically leaves home Sunday night and doesn’t return until Friday afternoon. In addition to high schools, career fairs, and career centers, Mr. Finley also visits prisons, mostly during the summer when school’s not in session. He has a good relationship with a number of community-based correctional facilities and youth services facilities, where he speaks with pre-selected groups. “They’re very good audiences and I feel I can give them a lot of hope” Neither the operating engineers’ nor the laborers’ unions ask about past convictions during the application process. “I love spending time with these young people,” says Mr. Finley. I feel like I make a difference every day.” Find out more information about Dave Finley and the Ohio Highway Guy program.