The COO and vice president of a Poughkeepsie-based construction and construction management company says that the industry needs to do more to encourage young people to learn the construction trades and then needs to help them launch their careers.
Scott Travis of Mid Hudson Construction Management points to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s 2023 economic outlook that reports the country is suffering from a massive shortage of skilled workers while another estimate suggests a shortage of half-million skilled workers in the construction industry alone.
“It”™s evident that businesses need to step up and start actively advocating for change in the trades, especially as it pertains to the development of young professionals,” Travis said. “Careers in the trades have lots to offer, including paths to financial prosperity, job security, an outlook of projected growth. Yet the nation”™s tendency to value four-year college degrees above all other certifications, job experience and technical skills has created a false narrative among high school students: if you pass up traditional college for the trades, you are somehow less intelligent or ambitious.”
Travis told the Business Journals that his company has experienced shortages in skilled day laborers as well as skilled craftsmen, machinery operators and foremen.
“We’re actually an open shop in Mid Hudson Construction,” Travis said. “We do as much as we possibly can in trying to develop the skilled workers. We’re reaching out to local high schools. We’re attending job fairs. We’ll actually put together a meet and greet. We’ll do everything we possibly can to try to entice the younger generation.”
Travis said that his company lets young people know that there’s a great career in construction, especially for those who want to start from the ground up.
“One step business owners can take is getting involved with local trade schools,” Travis said. “Volunteer at school events, offer to present as a guest speaker, participate in job fairs. If you”™re able, support the program by providing an annual scholarship for a promising student. By developing relationships with the institutions that are training tomorrow”™s skilled workers, you”™re helping to create a pipeline of young trades professionals that will ultimately contribute to workforce development.”
Travis said that Mid Hudson currently has two interns who who do not come from a construction background.
“They want to learn the industry, which is exciting for us,” Travis said. “They want to learn it from both sides, from a labor standpoint in the field and also as an assistant project manager in learning the inside of the business as well. We feel at Mid Hudson instead of just shoehorning them into the position we want to show them all the business because maybe the field work isn’t for them but the office is.”
Travis said that one of his concerns is what the employment situation will look like in five to seven years from now.
“Here in the Hudson Valley Region, in New York state, it’s going to continue to be an issue,” Travis said. “We can have a growing economy every single day but if we don’t have the people serving that growth the outcome is going to be loss. Not only the construction industry, but every industry really has to switch gears and have the younger generation come up and want to work.”
Travis described Mid Hudson as a unique company and noted that it recently decided to create a division specializing in site work, preparing land for construction.
“Myself and my brother founded it in 1998,” Travis said. “We started as a construction management company. We offer not only the construction management portion but general contracting as well. We’re aligned with some great community leaders in helping them develop in the Hudson Valley. We just completed a great project for Mount Saint Mary.”
The project at Mount Saint Mary College in Newburgh transformed an underutilized residence hall and former chapel into a state-of-the-art wellness center. The Desmond Center for Community Engagement and Wellness Center was proposed to provide medical and educational services for underserved individuals and families in the local community.
“We’re finishing up the Dutchess County Hospice Center,” Travis said. “We have the ability to do public works jobs as well as work in the private sector. We do jobs anywhere from $1 million to $30 million. We have a staff of 40 employees.”
Travis said he has been spending what he termed “countless hours” with developers helping to get their projects to work from a financial standpoint in the current era of inflation and higher interest rates.
