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2006 PACE Awards
Brantley Construction is again honored to be the presenter of the 2006 PACE Awards.
This is the second year that we have been a part of this great event, which recognizes excellence in construction through teamwork.
Through good communication and collaboration on a construction project, each member of the team contributes to the successful project and walks away as a winner.
The industry has changed in the past year, and as a manager of a construction company, I encounter many problems the company must address.
As a past president of Charleston Contractors’ Association and a past president of CEFPI, the School Building Association, I have worked with many groups, owners, contractors and subcontractors. We all have a common problem: Our work force is getting older and we are not doing as much as we should to bring up the new generation in the construction industry.
Our schools do not offer the vocational training they did 20 years. When I graduated, we had masonry, carpentry and electrical shop classes. Presently in most school districts, the only way to get vocational training is at special schools, which requires a student to make a career commitment. I did not know what I wanted to do in high school, but I took a shop class and that one class opened up a new avenue for me. It helped me steer my career path toward construction in college.
Our industry is slowly dying off. The average age of a construction worker today is 56. According to Engineering News Record, “The local phenomenon of finding seasoned management talent has spread across the country.” The construction industry needs good people.
Sea Island Youth Build is a group on Johns Island that takes under-privileged high school youths and puts them in a carpentry training class while working with them to get a GED. They are in the process of establishing charter schools on Johns Island to further develop the vocational training classes. I ask those in the industry to support this program and work toward putting vocational training back in our schools. The construction industry needs more people.
I congratulate the winners of the 2006 PACE Awards for having the insight to work as a team. It is truly an honor to our industry.
Ray Mahr
Vice president of Brantley Construction Co. LLC
Brantley Construction was a presenting sponsor of the Palmetto Architecture Construction and Engineering Awards.
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