Do you have a conference, workshop or other type of educational learning event for which you need complete contract document samples?  ConsensusDOCS can help! 

Not only does ConsensusDOCS provide free educational use samples of its entire catalog of standard contract documents, but we can also help you locate speakers for your event.  There are also two ConsensusDOCS table-top booths, and coordinating folders containing a variety of product information, articles and ordering information that you can use to promote ConsensusDOCS at your next event.  These marketing materials are provided to Endorsing Organizations at no charge; all we ask is that you pay for shipping costs.

To acquire a free, educational copyright license to use complete samples of ConsensusDOCS contract documents, all you have to do is fill out the Application for Copyright License, which can be found here.  Generally, requests can be processed the same day.

For additional information on ConsensusDOCS’ Educational Programs, please contact info@ConsensusDOCS.org.

Remember:  All members of the ConsensusDOCS Endorsing Organizations receive a 20% discount on all ConsensusDOCS products.

AGC members and chapters who are looking for the next generation of workers are encouraged to connect with their state and local workforce investment boards to provide summer jobs for youth.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provides $1.2 billion for youth activities through the Workforce Investment Act (WIA).  While states will have until June 30, 2011, to spend WIA Youth Recovery Act funds, they are strongly encouraged to “use as much of these funds as possible to operate expanded summer youth employment opportunities during the summer of 2009.”

The Recovery Act changes the WIA so that workforce investment boards may engage in direct contracts with institutions of higher education, such as community colleges or other eligible training providers, to offer classes. Additionally, the age eligibility for youth under the Recovery Act funds is increased from 21 to 24 years old.

According to a Workforce3 One webinar held on March 24, 2009, for the summer youth program there is only one indicator of effectiveness to measure: work readiness. Programs would have to establish a methodology for determining work readiness skills, including but not limited to: worksite supervisor evaluations, work readiness skill checklists administered by program staff or portfolio assessments.

Employers participating in these programs will be reimbursed for the cost of the summer employees’ salaries.

Summer employment is defined as any set of allowable WIA Youth services that occur between May 1 and September 30, as long as it includes a work experience component.  In addition to providing “meaningful work experience,” summer youth programs should:
      • Make an effort to match worksites with participants’ interests and goals;
      • Structure the work experience to impart measureable communication, interpersonal, decision-making,
      and learning skills in the workplace;
      • Ensure work experience arrangements do not unfavorably impact current employees and do not
      impair existing contracts for services or collective bargaining agreements;
      • Identify regional and local environmental resources and businesses promoting green jobs and products
      to provide youth summer work experiences that prepare them to compete in a green economy;
      • Include introductory programs, such as pre-apprenticeship programs, and combine basic technical
      skills training in the classroom with experience on the worksite or through a work experience
      or internship;
      • Integrate work experience activities with classroom-based learning activities where appropriate
      so that the youth are provided with assistance in developing and refining attitudes, values,
      and work habits which will contribute to their success in the workplace;
      • Connect with employers and their individual state apprenticeship office to better determine how
      best to coordinate a pre-apprenticeship or pre-employment training program; and
      • Encouraged to focus services on the youth most in need including: out-of-school youth and those
      most at risk of dropping out; youth offenders and those at risk of court involvement; children of
      incarcerated parents; and Native American youth.

Workforce3 One, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor/Employment and Training Administration, is an online communication and learning platform that contains the complete webinar, its transcript, and the accompanying Powerpoint presentation.

To connect with your state’s workforce investment board, the National Association of State Workforce Chairs provides hot links to every state’s workforce investment board or council. The National Association of Workforce Boards Web site lists workforce investment boards by state, as well as grant opportunities.

Glenn Hillegas, executive vice president of the San Diego AGC Training and Trust and former principal of Stanley E. Foster Construction Tech Academy (CTA), was one of four speakers invited to Washington, D.C., recently to discuss San Diego’s high school reform initiative and the experiences of two of its small high schools.

Mr. Hillegas spoke to nearly one hundred educators, administrators, policymakers, and other key stakeholders gathered on February 25, 2009 at High School Renewal: Big Success for San Diego’s Small Schools, a forum hosted by the Alliance for Excellent Education. The event focused on the challenges of high school redesign, policies and practices to successfully overcome those challenges, and the implications of these experiences for national and federal efforts to improve America’s schools.

CTA’s approach to education is based upon the theory that successful schools employ strategies that address a school’s structure, culture, and instruction. Schools must be designed to provide students with rigorous coursework, relevant experience, and supportive relationships through thematic pathways.

Industry partners, including the San Diego AGC and many AGC members, play an important role at CTA. The school’s board of directors is comprised of stakeholders from local industries (half are union-affiliated and half are not). The board members provide essential feedback and direction with the school’s funding, curricula development, and mentorship program. Mr. Hillegas noted that without these resources, both financial and in-kind, CTA would not be the success it is today.

A video of Mr. Hillegas’s speech and a copy of his Powerpoint presentation are available through the Alliance for Excellent Education’s website.

The next AGC Workforce Development Committee will be held via WebEx from 1 to 4 PM EDT (or noon to 3 PM Central time; 11 AM to 2 PM Mountain, 10 AM to 1 PM, Pacific; 9 AM to noon, Alaskan) on Wednesday, April 29, 2009.

Committee Chairman Ed Proefke Jr. decided to hold a virtual meeting in the hopes that it will allow greater participation by AGC members and chapter staff who interested in workforce development.

The agenda will include:
      • A staff report on current activities;
      • An update from our NCCER partners;
      • Updates on the Operating Engineers and Laborers JATCs;
      • Updates on construction career academies;
      • Any other topics members would like discussed.

If you have any questions or suggestions for agenda topics or want sign-up information, please contact Liz Elvin at elvinl@agc.org.

The Associated General Contractors of America – along with more than two dozen other associations, interest groups, and businesses – recently signed a letter to President Obama seeking an increase in funds for the program that supports career technical education (CTE).

CTE, formerly known as vocational education or voc-ed, is funded at the federal level through the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act, funding for which has decreased over the past few years, even as enrollment nationwide has increased.

The April 3 letter was authored by the Association for Career and Technical Education, the National Association of State Directors of Career Technical Education Consortium, and the American Association of Community Colleges. The letter seeks an increase in the fiscal 2010 federal budget for Perkins funding to $1.4 billion.

The letter, which also will be sent to the U.S. Office of Management & Budget, the White House Domestic Policy Council, the U.S. Department of Education, and members of the U.S. Congress, notes: “The undersigned organizations, representing education and training, employer groups, and students, believe that career technical education (CTE) is a critical investment in the American workforce. … During this turbulent economic time, it is crucial to note that high-quality CTE programs can provide the education and training necessary to stimulate the economy and provide the solid education that is needed to prepare youth and displaced workers with the skills they need to succeed in today’s highly technical environment.”

AGC believes that CTE offers a good pipeline for young people who are interested in the construction industry to connect with potential employers and to gain skills needed to be successful in our industry.

Attendees of AGC’s Construction Project Manager Course receive more than valuable insights from industry professionals who serve as instructors for the 15 modules of the course.

Regardless of geographic location or project focus (highway and transportation, building, municipal, federal work, specialty, alternative energy, etc.), these project managers quickly recognize they face the same obstacles and opportunities. Here is what some of the 2008 and spring 2009 graduates have said about the benefit of sharing best practices with their peers:

“The instructors were great, but I think the best part was the sharing among the other people in the class.”

“I enjoyed the ability to interact with fellow 'friends' from across the U.S.”

“The content of this course is very well laid out and is very pertinent to my position. The interaction between the presenters and attendees was great and very informative. I am excited to start using some of the things learned during this course. All companies should send their PM's to a course like this. It's a manual for the job we do.”

“I have been through similar training in the past. However the quality of these presentations was excellent and has re-ignited my thoughts on quality contracting.”

Sharing experiences and ideas during roundtable discussions, group presentations, role playing, and team-building activities allow attendees to walk away with a solid network of resources they can contact after the course. This tool continues to give support long after the course concludes.

The next AGC Construction Project Manager Course is October 4-9, 2009 in Indianapolis, IN. Registration is now open and more details can be found here.

January 2009 Graduates of AGC’s Construction Project Manager Course in Dallas, Texas.

In conjunction with the release and promotion of the documentary: “Liquid Assets: The Story of Our Water Infrastructure,” Penn State Public Broadcasting Educational Services has produced free correlating educational materials for students in grades 6-12.

Liquid Assets focuses on how our nation’s water and wastewater infrastructure provides a critical public health function and is essential for economic development and growth. The 90-minute documentary highlights the current status of our national water infrastructure and the tremendous challenges to maintain and modernize these systems to maintain our quality of life. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that $450 billion to $600 billion is needed over the next 20 years to address water infrastructure needs in the United States.

Liquid Assets was produced by Emmy award-winning Penn State University Public Broadcasting, with financial support from AGC of America and others. PBS stations began broadcasting in October 2008. The documentary will be available for PBS stations that wish to broadcast it until October 2011.

To date, more than 80% of all public television stations have broadcast the documentary and 15,000 copies have been distributed, including one copy given to each of the 535 members of the U.S. Congress and multiple copies given to President Obama’s transition team.

The educational materials, sortable by grade and topic, are available through Teachers’ Domain, an online library of media resources from public television. These classroom resources — including include video segments, a background essay, and discussion questions — are easy to use and correlate to state and national standards.

The six educational topics related to Liquid Assets are:
      • Community participation/activism;
      • Sustainable water use;
      • Wastewater;
      • Public health;
      • A water system; and
      • Watersheds.

AGC encourages chapters and members involved with middle and high schools to promote the use of these free educational resources.

By Linda Scronce-Johnson
Marketing/Membership Director
AGC Oregon-Columbia Chapter

With a serious workforce shortage looming and growing frustration with the inability to reach young people with strong messages about the positive career potential of construction, AGC’s Oregon-Columbia Chapter has taken an innovative approach to attracting the next generation’s most creative problem-solvers.

“The misleading myths of construction are impacting the industry’s ability to attract the best and the brightest of our young people to construction,” says Todd Hess, 2008 Oregon-Columbia Chapter president and chair of the chapter’s image task force, “and with almost 50 percent of the construction workforce destined to retire in less than 10 years, improving the image of the industry has become a major initiative of the Oregon-Columbia Chapter.”
The chapter has made a three-year funding commitment to develop an electronic outreach campaign designed to combat the negative myths of construction, provide useful career information packaged in a style young people can relate to, and set up a simple “craigslist model” approach for connecting Oregon-Columbia Chapter member contractors with qualified potential employees.

At the center of the campaign is http://www.GetConstructive.com, an innovative website that sports a demolition game, salary information, and practical information about getting started in a construction career, all presented in a style designed to make young people feel good about choosing a future in construction.

The GetConstructive campaign is based on research that carefully identified the demographic and psychological profile of the individuals who would most likely succeed — and find personal satisfaction — in construction. To those involved in the construction industry, it will come as no surprise that the ideal construction employee has strong math and communication skills, enjoys problem solving, is a team player with a strong work ethic, and enjoys the outdoors.
The research also revealed that a number of young people — and the adults who influence them — hold a number of outdated stereotypes and misperceptions about construction, frequently viewing the industry as seasonal, low-skilled, and dangerous — a job of last resort.

Focus group research conducted by the Oregon-Columbia Chapter showed that young people with unfavorable impressions of construction changed their minds when they heard the facts about actual pay scale, benefits, working conditions, and earn-while-you-learn apprenticeship opportunities. The pride that comes from building something tangible was one of the strongest benefit messages to young people, according to the research.

Thus, busting the negative myths of construction by providing factual information became the centerpiece of the GetConstructive campaign.

The next critical element in the campaign’s development was to understand how young people communicate and find information. In the 18- to 29-year-old demographic, the research was clear: it’s all about electronic social networking. Young people no longer read newspapers, watch television news, or listen to the radio. Advertising on those traditional media no longer dependably reaches the demographic, and, in the limited cases that it does, the message lacks credibility. The trend away from traditional media has grown exponentially in just the past five years.

The Oregon-Columbia Chapter launched its website in October 2008, and during the next two months conducted an electronic outreach campaign that placed electronic ads on a portfolio of Web sites carefully selected to reflect the personal interests and psychological profile of ideal candidates for construction careers.

The results were positive. During the two-month period, individuals were exposed to the ads more than 10 million times (impressions), and roughly 7,000 times they “clicked through” to see the Web site. Those who visited GetConstructive.com spent an average of one minute on the site, and the section they most frequently visited was a “Who’s Hiring” tab (that was unfortunately still under construction at the time).

The beauty of the electronic outreach was the ability it afforded to quickly correct and optimize the placement and content of the ads through the ability to track which ads were working, and to follow and reconnect with Web visitors through improved ads. Electronic outreach provided an immediate learn-as-you-go method for improving the effectiveness of the campaign.

Now, in year two, the Oregon-Columbia Chapter and its image task force are focusing efforts on next steps in the campaign:
      • Designing a craigslist-type hiring page that will  match chapter  members with job  candidates;
      • Developing electronic kiosks and booth graphics that can be taken to job and career fairs to entice 
         young people to interact with the Web site;
      • Creating an “influencer” campaign that will use more traditional communication strategies for reaching
        parents, teachers, counselors, coaches, and youth leaders with the same positive messages about
        construction.

In year three, it is likely that a great deal of the chapter’s efforts will turn to public relations efforts — a personal touch to balance the high tech — by nurturing bloggers, online mentors who will be available to respond to questions from interested Web visitors, and more outreach with influencers.

The chapter is currently talking with West Coast AGC chapters to expand the GetConstructive.com information.

Sound research, a carefully designed positioning strategy, and cutting-edge electronic communications are the components on which the campaign is based, but there is an intangible element that plays into the feel of the campaign as well: The effort is being led by a group of people who truly love what they do, contractors who are willing to listen and learn to truly communicate with young people — and have a good time while they do it. Their enjoyment of their own career choice has inspired the Web designers, the advertising agency, the parents, and young people who have helped develop and test the messages.

But don’t expect any of the image task force members to take themselves too seriously as they pursue this effort. Todd Hess says that what they’re doing is pretty simple, actually: “We’re just looking for young people who understand the Pythagorean Theorem and aren’t afraid to use it.”

In light of current economic conditions, AGC of America has decided to offer the Training & Development Conference and the HR Professionals Conference concurrently, offering one track for each conference plus some joint sessions. The conference dates are October 28-29, 2009, with a pre-conference gathering in the evening of October 27.

This adjustment will benefit participants by allowing them to:
     • Attend both conferences for the cost of one;
     • Migrate between conference tracks; and
     • Network with both HR and training professionals during meals and other social events.

As an extra effort to assist our member companies who would like to send two or more participants from the same organization (e.g., an HR professional and a training professional), AGC will offer a discounted rate for the 2nd, 3rd and 4th participants.

The training and development staff at AGC of America has been working diligently to ensure that this year’s conference will offer expert speakers and interactive sessions that will help construction industry training and development professionals remain up to date on cutting-edge training and development techniques.

Mark your calendars now and stay tuned for more details.  Conference registration and a schedule will be available in early summer.

We look forward to seeing you in October in Atlanta!

National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER) has partnered with constructNet International to offer online instructional language resources for the construction industry. This program is designed to improve job site communication between Spanish-speaking and English-speaking employees.

The first series, titled Construction English for the Spanish Speaker, currently contains two courses but will be expanded to five in the coming months.
      • Introduction to Construction English I — Participants will learn and apply familiar everyday expressions
         and basic phrases geared to the construction site. The importance of safety on the job site and common
         cultural differences are introduced.
      • Introduction to Construction English II — Participants will be able to understand statements and
         frequently used expressions related to areas of the basic job site, employment, personal and family
         information, and local geography. Safety is reinforced.

A second series, titled Construction Spanish for the English Speaker, consists of one course aimed at foremen, supervisors, crew leaders, and administration to ensure clear communication between the Spanish-speaking employee and the English-speaking manager, particularly to ensure safety on the job site.

Each course in the Construction English for the Spanish Speaker series costs $125; Construction Spanish for the English Speaker costs $195. The fee is for one participant to have 24-hour access to the online program for 12 weeks. All participants who successfully complete the entire course series through an NCCER Accredited Training Sponsor will receive NCCER credentials.

Before an employee begins any course in the Construction English for the Spanish Speaker series, they must receive an orientation to the computer from a Language Training Facilitator. The LTF is the company representative chosen to perform the orientation and assist employees as they progress through the course. The LTF must be fluent in both English and Spanish and take a two-hour online training session before the orientation.

If training is provided through an NCCER Accredited Training Sponsor and credentials are desired, the LTF must be a certified master trainer, craft instructor or have taken modules 1, 6, and 9 of the Instructor Certification Training Program.

More information, answers to frequently asked questions, and a free demonstration of the courses are available online here.