Trade labor shortage brings opportunities for women

The shortage of manpower in the building trades is a good opportunity for the promotion of womanpower. Ozarks Technical Community College's Project CREW is providing a chance for women to train in untraditional skills so they can take advantage of such job openings.

Jennifer Jackson, coordinator of Project CREW Construction Readiness Education for Women calls the labor market "a blessing for job placement."

"The construction industry is crying out for skilled and semi-skilled workers," she said. "It makes my job easier because I feel we are providing a needed service, first for women going through the program so they can make a better living for themselves and their families, and, second, because we're training them to do something that's needed in our community."

Project CREW is a five-month program in which women are exposed to various construction skills such as cabinet making, carpentry, blueprint reading and interior finishes, Jackson said. Part of the training is building a Habitat for Humanity house. Students get hands-on specialized training in the workplace through an unpaid two-day-a-week.

"We hope that when a student graduates from Project CREW they can go to an employer and say they have a formalized education, as well as work experience. I think the lack of work experience is one of the main barriers for women getting hired," Jackson said.

So far, about 50 percent of the internships have resulted in the Project CREW student being hired by the company where they are interning, Jackson said. She added that among the women graduated from the program over the past two years, there has been 100 percent job placement in the Springfield area.

"The current class is our eighth class, and we average about 15 students per year. We advertise to recruit students. We are primarily attracting economically disadvantaged women and those we're able to assist with tuition. They are attracted to the program because they are able to make higher initial wages than in a pink collar' position," Jackson said.

Jackson hopes that in the future Project CREW will expand to become Career Readiness Education for Women. This would mean educating women in other nontraditional fields. such as auto body work, so they can take advantage of the higher entry-level wages of those jobs.

For next year, the Junior League of Springfield may be stepping in with a grant for tuition for 15 women to attend Project CREW, as well as funding a Habitat for Humanity house. Marci Bowling, chair of Women Helping Women at the Junior League, said the grant proposal passed the board and would be voted on by the entire membership April 3.