New Kids on the Block: NAWIC's Block Kids Competition
By Jordan LeGras
June 16, 2025
Every November on the first Saturday of the month, the NAWIC Philadelphia Foundation brings together 30 industry volunteers to guide more than 100 children through a hands-on construction competition and interactive trade show activities. During the competition, students in first...
‘It’s Just How I Live’: ABC's 2025 Craft Professional of the Year, Chris Weaver
By Maggie Murphy
June 9, 2025
When Chris Weaver first stepped onto a jobsite as an electrical apprentice fresh out of high school, he didn’t see it as just a job. He saw it as an opportunity. Over the last 21 years, that opportunity has transformed into a thriving career marked by leadership, mentorship and a...
Going the Extra Mile: ABC’s 2025 Craft Instructor of the Year Derek Robbins
By Jordan LeGras
June 9, 2025
For Derek Robbins, becoming an HVAC director and sheet metal instructor was never part of the plan. “Teaching kind of found me. Looking back now, that road seems like a no-brainer for me,” he says.
While the road to discovering his passion for teaching was under construction for...
Lead by Learning: ABC’s 2025 Young Professional of the Year Ray Wallace
By Grace Calengor
June 9, 2025
“Hey, let’s roll.” This is what Sarah Wallace—a military spouse, mother of three and wife to ABC’s 2025 Young Professional of the Year, Ray Wallace—said in 2021 when she learned her family would be moving…again. The couple, who married following Wallace’s second deployment, have ...
Drawing the Future Faces of Construction
By Grace Calengor
January 23, 2025
Construction-themed children’s books have been hitting the scene in recent years, aiming to introduce young people to the wonders of the industry. The National Association of Women in Construction Philadelphia Foundation took that trend one step further. With an interactive spin ...
What You Need to Know About the Dirt World
By Grace Calengor
December 11, 2024
The two-year-old Dirt World Summit, started in 2023 by BuildWitt and sponsored by Ariat, is taking the construction workforce by storm in all the best ways. Debuting with an attendance of 750 registrants—including exhibitors, speakers and audience members—Dirt World nearly double...
When Opportunity Knocks: The New CTE and Business Campus in Forney, Texas
By Grace Calengor
September 20, 2024
Forney Independent School District in Forney, Texas, is giving a whole new meaning to career and technical education—and a whole new building in which to learn. Sitting just east of Dallas, Kaufman County, in which Forney is located, grew 7.6% in 2022-2023, making it the fastest-...
Construction Students Jam Out With Ty Pennington at National Skilled-Trades Competition
By Grace Calengor
September 19, 2024
"We’ve got to turn this into a T.V. show.” That is what John Montgomery, co-executive director of the Skilled Careers Coalition, said when he attended SkillsUSA, a national skilled-trades competition for teens, in 2021. But well before television, the first federal law in the Uni...
Suffolk Hosts ACE Mentor Students and Spot the Robot Dog
By Grace Calengor
September 5, 2024
In an industry known more for bricks than pixels, Suffolk recognized a need to innovate in the early 2000s, investing heavily in data and technology to drive productivity and efficiency and support complex projects.
For five years now, a handful of Suffolk employees have partici...
Three Benefits of Expanding Professional Development Opportunities in the Skilled Trades
By Bartholomew Jae
August 21, 2024
For skilled-trades workers, continuous learning is a career necessity which opens doors to new opportunities by future-proofing their skills—and as construction companies are beginning to embrace digital transformation, it’s more important than ever for their workers to continue ...
Recommended for you
Education
Initiatives to Encourage Students to Enter the Skilled Trades
By Ryan Aalsma
From hands-on discovery days to job shadowing and more, there are plenty of creative and immersive ways to welcome students into the world of construction—and maybe even a career.
Education
Community Colleges Offer Opportunity to Get a Degree and Find a Career in Construction
By Julie Brandt
Need skilled-trade talent? Try building it at the local level by partnering with a community or technical college.
Education
The Case for Skills-Based Hiring
By Fraser Patterson
Forget ‘education,’ ‘experience’ or ‘past employment.’ Filling the trades gap will mean identifying the specific skills you need for the projects you have—and hiring people with those skills.