AGC Chapters Create State Fair Construction Learning Centers

Chapter Spotlight AGC’s two Nebraska Chapters recently created a Construction Learning Center at the 2009 Nebraska State Fair. Over the course of 10 days, the center offered an entertaining, educational, and hands-on experience for fairgoers of all ages. About a week later, the Kansas Construction Careers Coalition (KC3) - a partnership between the Associated General Contractors of Kansas, Inc., the Kansas Contractors Association, and the National Association of Women in Construction – hosted its award-winning Construction Learning Center for the third year at the Kansas State Fair. Both centers received tremendous industry support for their efforts. Members from the Nebraska Chapter and the Nebraska Building Chapter of AGC provided more than 100 volunteers, as well as equipment simulators, heavy equipment, tools, and materials for various competitions. The Nebraska center’s Block Kid building contest and step stool-building activity were staffed by AGC student chapter members from Southeast Community College-Milford Campus throughout the duration of the fair. Other learning center activities included heavy equipment simulators, a mini excavator competition, Building Information Model (BIM) demonstrations, Lego building center, brick wall-building contest, static construction equipment display, and more. “The Nebraska members of the Associated General Contractors are pleased and excited to join with the Nebraska State Fair in providing an informative and educational experience for the citizens of the state. Our contractors are proud of the highways, sewers, water systems, schools and other buildings they construct and are used by everyone in our state,” said Curt Smith, executive director of the Nebraska Chapter. The Nebraska Chapters posted a video on YouTube that shows the various elements in the 7,000-square-foot Construction Learning Center: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piqWoRWHTPg Much more information on the Nebraska Chapters’ efforts, including the layout of center and fair, and the activities broken down by age group, can be found here and here.  For more information on the Kansas Construction Careers Coalition’s center, please see an archived article and the coalition’s website.