High schools and Northeast Iowa Community College answer local employment demand

High schools and Northeast Iowa Community College answer local employment demand

Wednesday, March 27, 2024

The program is designed to prepare students for professional, entry-level employment in the construction industry and local employers are hiring.

Recruiting a new generation of skilled high school graduates may be just the solution Oelwein needs to build a better workforce for the community. With this goal in mind, Northeast Iowa Community College (NICC) partnered with Oelwein High School to create a 56-hour Basic Construction Skills Core Career Pathway Certificate (CPC) program.

The new CPC program added additional components to the high school's current introductory construction skills course and now students who complete the program will earn industry-standard certifications. The new components include certifications in Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) guidelines, Silica Safety and Heartsaver CPR/First Aid Training.

"Soft skills" training is integrated into the program as well. The College teaches conflict resolution and stress and time management, Community Bank of Oelwein teaches financial literacy and Iowa Workforce Development offers insight on workforce readiness, such as job searches, applications, resume design and interviewing skills.

Josh Ladeburg, an Oelwein High School senior, is thrilled about the opportunity to complete the certificate program. "There are many more aspects to construction than you think and the program covers a lot of this knowledge. The best part about the program is doing the construction projects with my classmates and learning together," Josh said.

The program is designed to prepare students for professional, entry-level employment in the construction industry and local employers are hiring. High school seniors who complete the construction certificate program can develop their skills further through NICC, according to Terri Rubner, director of the NICC Regional Academy for Math & Science (RAMS) and Regional Tech Complex (RTC) in Oelwein.

"Any graduating seniors in this program can also complete the Construction Equipment Operator 40-hour lab this spring to receive certification in heavy equipment. Most of the CPC overlaps with the Basic Construction CPC, so students would only need to complete the additional lab hours, as the other 56 hours will be completed already. In fact, JB Holland Construction is a partner with the College on the program and they offer earn-while-you-learn options to go directly into employment upon completion," Terri said.

Tuition assistance for students is made possible by the Northeast Iowa Charitable Foundation. The foundation awards grant funding to the RAMS/Oelwein Center to fund training for Career Pathway Certificate programs that lead to employment or continued education. Youth summer camp programming, new and updated educational equipment and NICC scholarships are also funded by the grant.