Masonry Magazine August 2014 Page. 38
MAS5308_August2014_MAS 7/22/14 10:16 AM Page 36
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WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
Model behavior
THE STATE OF FWRIDA serves as a model for the NCCER partnership, having found great success since the training programs went into schools there in 2004, according to Al Herndon, regional apprentice representative for the Florida Masonry Apprentice and Educational Foundation. Today, the two organizations are sponsoring 130 training programs across the state.
'We knew we were going into a recession, and now that we're com�ing out ofit, the system is in place; we've got a niche:' Herndon says. "We help public schools in Florida, and it works very well" So well, in fact, that 1,802 students in Florida schools received credentials in the training program last year alone.
"We've kind of impressed the Shown Is a3rd year apprentice competing in the MAF Apprentice Competition at the Southeast Building
Conference In 2013
NCCER and the Department of Education:'
While Florida has a solid apprentice program in place, plans to strengthen the masonry apprenticeships do exist, said Hern�don: "Not all students go right into an apprentice program. They're kids, and they change their minds. They'll graduate high school and do other things like go and work at Burger King. Then they realize they need a career:'
The masonry training programs in the Sunshine State soon will benefit from additional funding created by the passing of the Concrete Masonry Education Act in June, says Pat McLaughlin, executive director of Masonry Association of Florida and Florida Masonry Educational Foundation.
"It took four years to pass, but we had a lot of support from all three branches of state government," McLaughlin says. The new law allowed for the creation of the Florida Masonry Education Council, a 50l(c)(3) corporation designed to educate and promote masons in the state of Florida. The public/private partnership will be funded by members of the masonry industry who voluntarily con�tribute a penny for every block made in the state. The con�tributions are expected to total $1 million annually, McLaughlin says.
"This will take masonry in the state of Florida to anoth�er level, no doubt about it," he says, adding that the law also will formally connect the public/private partnership with workforce boards across the state, connecting employers to employees.
"This is an education bill, and this is a jobs bill;' he says. "Florida contractors are already excited, because it can open up opportunities for all the trades, not just masonry:'
Working together
INSTRUMENTAL IN MAKING this joint effort possi�ble was the National Concrete Masonry Association's (NCMA) Education and Research Foundation, which pro�vided partial funding through three grants, according to Dennis Graber, director of technical publications for the association. The grant money was needed to develop three volumes of curricula for the training program, taking the MCAA's curriculum and incorporating parts of it into the new NCCER Masonry books.
"I think the partnership is terrific," says Graber. "The NCCER has a vehicle for administering these types ofcreden�tials, and it really makes sense for them to work together on it:'
Graber agrees that the training programs will be a boost for the industry overall: "It's going to help a lot with increasing the number of masons we have, plus the NCCER credential will be transferable from state to state. As the mason moves from one state to another, the creden�tial will go with him:' he says, noting that many state certi�fications are valid only in the issuing state.
While Tennessee will serve as a test market, so to speak, the MCAA has hopes ofexpanding the training program soon to high schools in Kentucky and Texas, says Buczkiewicz. He says the goal is to have 50 instructors and about 3,500 stu�dents participating in MCAA sponsored programs by the end of the first year. IMAS
K.K. Snyder is a freelance writer based in Albany, Ga. For more information on the MCAA's workforce development efforts, contact Jeff Buczkiewicz, jeffb@masoncontractors.org.
36 MASONRY � August 2014 � www.masoncontractors.org The Voice of the Masonry Industry