The Montana Construction Association held a pop-up event at the Billings Career Center to showcase career opportunities in the construction industry for high school students.
BILLINGS, Mont. – The Montana Construction Association held a pop-up event at the Billings Career Center to showcase career opportunities in the construction industry for high school students.
At the event, students moved from station to station, operating excavators, handling power tools, and exploring diverse roles in the construction industry. The MCA emphasized the urgency of the industry’s growth needs due to Montana’s increasing population.
“There’s a drastic workforce shortage in construction,” Barry Houser, Director of Communications for the MCA said. “The fact is Montana’s got an aging infrastructure system. We’re in dire need of rebuilding our roads, our bridges, our water systems, our wastewater systems. Communities are expanding all across Montana, just take a drive around and you’ll see Montana’s growing.”
Hailee Olsen, Workforce Director for the MCA, highlighted the importance of exposing students to construction careers.
“We are facing a workforce shortage in the construction industry so it’s really, really important that we show students that these careers are out there and they’re lucrative,” Olsen said. “You can be really proud of the work that you’re doing when you’re in one of these careers because you are the people out there fixing and building our communities.”
The MCA stated that such events are valuable not just for networking and recruiting, but also for energizing younger generations and instilling pride in the construction industry.
