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a r t i c l e S P R I N G 2 0 2 3 / W O R K F O R M E 11 C o n s t r u c t i o n / T r a d e s OFFICES IN SOUTH PORTLAND, BRIDGTON, SPRINGVALE, & BATH, ME Join Our Employee-Owned CREATIVE ENGINEERING COLLECTIVE Civil Engineers Land Surveyors Landscape Architects Environmental Scientists Transportation/Traffic Engineers Planners & Permitting Specialists CADD & GIS Professionals Construction Inspectors 3D Modelers On Time Every Time Stress Free 207-294-2075 or www.browndogcarriers.com Not what people think It has gotten to the point where most Maine construction firms will be happy to take in anyone off the street and train them, says Tim Ouellette, CEO and chief fi- nancial officer of CPM Construc- tors in Freeport. CPM focuses on bridge, pile-driving, railroad, his- toric rehabilitation and marine construction work across Maine and northern New England. One of the biggest challenges is overcoming negative percep- tions that the industry is too hard, too dirty and too uncom- fortable to work in outdoors, according to Ouellette. What most people don't know, he says, is how fulfilling and flexible a career in construction can be. Firms such as CPM have been forced to master the ways of online social media in order to reach the young audiences they seek, Ouellette addsz. "That's been more recent, in the last year or two," he says, "because we were, admittedly, not very good at it initially." Recruiting challenges have existed in the industry for about a decade but have worsened over the past few years, says Eric Ritchie, vice president and chief operating officer at employee- owned heavy civil earthwork contractor Sargent in Orono. Sargent has added human re- sources and workforce advance- ment staff and, like CPM, has been conducting outreach through multiple channels including social media, campus visits, job fairs and its own construction academy for high school gradu- ates and young adult workers. "We've been offering a vari- ety of things like that, as well as just trying to get out there and show people how, for lack of a better way to put it, how cool our industry really is," Ritchie says. "There's some amazing things that you can do." Some students get it Some young people, including 20-year-old Noah Forget, say they don't need to be convinced that the industry is for them. He is one of the students in Eng's construction technology pro- gram at SMCC. During a recent class, For- get and his classmates were practicing putting up drywall in a training environment that simulates a real jobsite. Forget says he sees a lot of benefits to working in construction. "You get to work outside — it doesn't get any better than that," he says. "I love this pro- gram — I think the teachers have done a phenomenal job with it. They make it fun." Jared Biaya, 18, says he en- rolled in the program because he wants to help people and enjoys building things. Biaya notes that Maine has a severe shortage of affordable housing, and that going into construction is one way to help solve the problem. "There are no [available] houses anywhere right now," he says. Laurel Freedner, also 18, praised the SMCC program. She says it offers "a little taste of everything" and emphasizes real-world skills. "I'm hoping to get into fin- ishing work, and possibly start- ing my own company at some point," Freedner says. n I love this program — I think the teachers have done a phenomenal job with it. — Noah Forget SMCC student