NCCER to Sponsor 2015 SkillsUSA Masonry Competitions Words: Dan KamysFor the sixth consecutive year, NCCER is sponsoring the SkillsUSA Carpentry Competition at the SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference held June 22-26 in Louisville, Kentucky. In addition, NCCER is sponsoring the SkillsUSA Masonry Competition for the third consecutive year. More than 15,000 people, including students, teachers and business partners are expected to participate in the week-long event. The competitions are part of the national-level SkillsUSA Championships for public high school and college students enrolled in career and technical education programs. All SkillsUSA Championship contestants are state-level gold medalists. Planned by technical committees made up of industry representatives, the competitions test the skills needed for successful entry‑level performance in various career fields. Safety practices and procedures are also judged as a component of each contestant’s overall score. As the sponsor of the carpentry and masonry competitions, NCCER creates the competition guidelines, gathers contributions for contest supplies and brings together industry members to serve as judges and technical committee members. This year’s platinum sponsors for the carpentry competition are The Haskell Company, Associated Builders and Contractors, Build Your Future, Fluor, National Association of Women in Construction Education Foundation and TIC – The Industrial Company. NCCER would like to thank carpentry committee chair Boyd Worsham of The Haskell Company and masonry committee chair Bryan Light of The Brick Industry for leading the way in organizing this year’s events. Through events like these, NCCER and its Build Your Future initiative provide valuable opportunities for construction industry employers to connect with future craft professionals. About NCCER — NCCER is a not-for-profit 501 (c)(3) education foundation created by the construction industry to develop standardized curriculum with portable credentials to help address the skilled, construction workforce shortage. NCCER is recognized by the industry as the training, assessment, certification and career development standard for the construction and maintenance craft professional. For more information, visit www.nccer.org or contact NCCER customer service at 888.622.3720. About SkillsUSA – SkillsUSA is the national organization for students in trade, industrial, technical and health occupations education. It sponsors the SkillsUSA Championships annually to recognize the achievements of career and technical education students and to encourage them to strive for excellence and pride in their chosen occupations. About Build Your Future – Build Your Future (BYF) is NCCER’s national image enhancement and recruitment initiative for the construction industry. Its mission is to recruit the next generation of craft professionals by making career and technical education a priority in secondary schools, shifting negative public perception about careers in the construction industry and providing a path from ambition, to training, to job placement as a craft professional. BYF provides a number of resources to assist industry, education and military organizations in achieving these goals. For more information, visitwww.byf.org.