Northern Colorado Construction Sector Partnership (NOCO CSP) held its first-ever Construction Con event at the Ranch Events Complex in Loveland. This hands-on, immersive construction experience provided over 500 high school students from different schools in Northern Colorado the opportunity to explore the multitude of career opportunities and different pathways into the industry.
Over 220 industry and education representatives from different sectors, companies, universities, associations, and apprenticeship programs participated by providing either an activity booth, a job booth, or volunteering to encourage these students to consider a career in construction. Early survey results show that they were successful in this, with approximately 84% of students who took the feedback survey saying that after attending the, they are more interested in pursuing a career or education in construction or a related field.
But this wasn't the partnership's only goal of the event. One of NOCO CSP's focal points is to improve the perception of who we are as an industry, what we do, and all we provide within our communities. When this impact is better understood and appreciated, community members are more amiable to see it as the honorable and viable career path that it truly is and can be for themselves, their family members, or their students. To help with this perception and to clarify different sectors, careers, and pathways into the industry, in the weeks leading up to the event, groups of partnership members visited classrooms of schools planning to attend the event to present their pre-built "Pathways into Construction" presentation.
The biggest success from the partnership perspective was the unity, support, and camaraderie among industry members expressed during and after the event. You could sense the energy and excitement that seemed to reenergize our industry and remind us all that what we do matters and is pretty dang amazing.