Construction Career Month in Indiana

Governor Holcomb has declared October “Construction Career Month“. It’s great to see this recognized, but we at Easterday Construction Co., Inc. (ECC) promote this year in and year out.

Over the years, we have sent dozens of employees to various forms of construction training in order to advance their careers. This has varied from National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) accredited Apprenticeship Training through Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) to leadership seminars to task certifications, such as welding to various safety training events. We believe strongly in helping our employees advance their careers.

Over the years, we have also participated in Culver Community Middle School Career Days. It has been interesting having the opportunity to spark interest in the construction trades, dispelling myths and touting benefits. One of my favorite things, that seemed to garner interest, was to point out that with a successful career in construction, you can drive through your community and see the results of your efforts in the building projects with which you’ve been involved. In my case, there are four generations of Easterday Construction projects in Culver and the surrounding communities.

One class was particularly memorable as it had a student that was a daughter of one our our superintendents. Not only did she listen raptly, I heard that she repeated my presentation at home. It was obvious she was proud of the work her father performed. While these kids are too young to be concerned with the financial side of obtaining a higher education, they were generally surprised to hear that construction offered a career path with similar outcomes to many college degrees. Hopefully, sometime in the future, this will make them think hard about taking on college debt. Maybe they’ll come to see me to talk about the advantages of construction apprenticeship… where ECC picks up the cost of their education.