ACPA Workforce Development Gets Underway

For concrete pumping businesses, recruiting new workers remains one of the biggest challenges. With this need in mind, ACPA implemented the Workforce Development Program in October 2016 to help members with their recruiting efforts. In its first year, the program has been active, seeking opportunities at trade shows, job fairs and via social media to promote career opportunities in the concrete pumping industry.

“One of our biggest goals is to educate people about the benefits of becoming a concrete pump operator or mechanic,” explains Sidney Andrews, who implemented the ACPA’s Workforce Development Program as its first coordinator. “We’re one of the highest-paying careers in construction, yet many people don’t even know what a concrete pump is.”

Promoting Pumping Careers

ACPA’s new Workforce Development Coordinator, Chay Ibarra, will work to raise awareness of the concrete pumping industry. Ibarra joined ACPA in July and is working closely with Andrews to ensure a smooth transition into her role at ACPA and to continue carrying out the program’s goals. The ACPA Workforce Development Board will work with Ibarra to define the program’s goals.

Over the past year, the program has developed relationships with various technical schools and programs to promote concrete pumping careers. One of these is the Heavy Construction Academy in Brentwood, New Hampshire. This six-week training program attracts students from across the country who have an interest in heavy equipment. Many students have military experience and use the G.I. Bill to fund their equipment training.

Many veterans are also turning up at job fairs across the country. Pursuing veterans as well as others interested in a construction-related career, the Workforce Development Program has attended key job fairs across the country over the past year. In cities such as Denver, Orlando, Cincinnati, Baltimore and Atlanta, members are encouraged to attend the job fair along with the ACPA Workforce Development Program and promote the benefits of working in the concrete pumping industry. Developing relationships through these job fairs as well as at trade and technical schools will be critical to advancing the industry’s recruiting efforts.

Online Presence

Among its foremost initiatives, the Workforce Development Program aims to enhance the ACPA’s online Career Center. The Career Center tab at www.concretepumpers.com currently has two hubs: one for ACPA members to post job openings and one where job-seekers can post their resumes. Members of ACPA have the option to sign up for email notifications whenever a new resume is posted online.

Based on activity at the online Career Center over the past year, the program’s efforts are bearing fruit. The number of resumes submitted has steadily increased, and members now have a larger pool of candidates to consider. The goal is to continue increasing the number of resume submissions.

In addition to enlarging the prospective candidate base online, future plans include the addition of a Workforce Development webpage. The new webpage will include testimonials of operators explaining what they like about being a concrete pumper. In addition, literature and other resources will be available online at the new webpage. Members will be able to access materials and graphics they can use for job fairs and other promotional events.

To further assist members in their recruitment efforts, the Workforce Development Program aims to help members with their online recruiting through social media.

“Because social media continues to be a primary vehicle for reaching the next generation of workers, the ACPA has plans to produce a webinar for its members on social media that will be available to ACPA members by the end of August,” says Ibarra. “We’ll cover topics such as creating a business page and social media advertising.”

As the Workforce Development Program marks its one-year anniversary in October, much ground has already been gained in raising awareness about careers in the concrete pumping industry. While concrete pumpers face a continuing need to reach and recruit new workers, the ACPA stands ready to provide assistance. If you’d like to learn more about the ACPA’s Workforce Development Program, you can reach Ibarra at (614) 431-5618 or chay[at]concretepumpers[dot]com.