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W O R K F O R M E / S P R I N G 2 0 2 3 10 the restoration of historically significant structures. It's a challenge just to find enough people to take on new projects, Smith says, adding that the problem is by no means lim- ited to the construction industry. Many industries in Maine and nationwide are experiencing worker shortages, he says. "Our HR team members are focused on really just interacting as much as possible with (pro- spective) next-generation team members," says Smith, "and that's from age groups as low as elementary school all the way up through college students." There used to be a reliable pipeline of new talent into the industry through high school vocational programs and family farms, he says, but that pipeline has mostly dried up. The chal- lenge now is to introduce more young people to an industry they likely know very little about. C o n s t r u c t i o n / T r a d e s « C O N T I N U E D F R O M P R E V I O U S PAG E S M C C C o n s t r u c t i o n I n s t i t u t e d r aw s N e w M a i n e r s Carlos Nzolameso, 43, has been working for the past five years in facilities management at the University of Southern Maine in Gorham and wanted to improve his professional skills to become even better at it. Nzolameso is originally from Angola, in southwestern Africa. Through an online search, he learned of SMCC's Construction Institute, a twice-weekly class held at its South Portland campus. Classes are held in the eve- nings and are designed for work- ing people who want to learn ba- sic construction skills or expand their existing skill set. Nzolameso enrolled in September. "They show you many things, including how to be more pro- fessional," he says. "It's a good program." David Eng, dean of SMCC's con- struction technology and heavy equipment department, also teach- es many of the classes. Eng, who has been teaching construction skills for 27 years, says the insti- tute attracts a lot of New Mainers. "They are excellent students," he says. "In the class I have now, I have 20 (students). Twelve of them are originally from Africa. … They're all looking for oppor- tunities in construction." Unlike SMCC's two-year as- sociate's degree program in con- struction technology, the Con- struction Institute is a 12-week, non-credit program designed to touch on a broad range of basic skills. The grant-funded program is ideal for workforce develop- ment and has been very popular with New Mainers, Eng says. One irony, he says, is that many of the institute's students are highly accomplished builders but may be lacking recognized certification and/or language skills in the United States. "We've been doing it for sev- en or eight years now," he says. "Some of these students were civil engineers back in their home coun- tries, or they were in construction before they fled their country." n P H O T O / J I M N E U G E R Carlos Nzolameso, a student in the construction technology department at SMCC.