WASHINGTON, D.C. – Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) announced the first 10 winners of the Build Your Future Scholarship through ABC’s Trimmer Construction Education Foundation (TCEF). The scholarships are awarded to the top 10 students attending an NCCER-accredited program or a state/federally approved apprenticeship program in a merit-shop training facility. “ABC is thrilled to honor the hard work, dedication and natural ability of each of these men and women and to be able to support them in advancing their careers in the construction industry,” said 2015 ABC National Chair Pamela Volm, president of Annapolis Contracting Inc., Annapolis, Maryland. “The construction industry continues to offer tremendous career opportunities for Americans, as it has for generations, and we could not be more excited for the bright futures each of these scholarship recipients is building. Our industry faces a well-documented shortage of skilled workers and ABC, along with NCCER and our other training partners, is committed to developing current and future generations of skilled craftsmen and women.” “The Build Your Future Scholarship recipients represent the best and brightest the merit shop construction industry has to offer,” said TCEF Chairman Mike Uremovich. “The construction industry is limited only by the shortage of qualified workers and the Trimmer Construction Education Foundation is proud to play a major role in ensuring that current and future generations of skilled craftsmen and women have the training they need to lead our industry.” “Helping young people seek rewarding construction careers is critical to our industry’s future, and we are honored to provide this scholarship to support their development,” said Don Whyte, president of NCCER. “The hard work and determination exemplified by this year’s award recipients is encouraging for the future of our workforce. We wish them success as they continue their training and look forward to seeing them make a difference in our industry.” Over the next several years, the need for skilled construction workers is projected to grow by twice the rate for all industries, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). BLS projects that growth in the industry, combined with an aging workforce, will result in a shortage of 1.6 million skilled workers by 2022. ABC is committed to helping fill this shortage and ABC contractor members annually invest $1.1 billion to train approximately 476,000 construction-industry professionals. The TCEF is a non-profit, charitable organization that funds efforts to train and retain the construction industry workforce. The foundation provides direct support to training initiatives, programs and training facilities that promote careers within the construction industry through grants. In addition, the foundation supports the future leaders of our industry by providing scholarships to aspiring craft professionals and ABC Student Chapter members. The 2015 winners and training facilities are:
- Dylan Bruening, ABC Ohio Valley Chapter
- Fabian Cervantes, ABC Northern California Chapter
- Joseph Evangelista, ABC Illinois Chapter
- Tyrone Gillispie, ABC West Tennessee Chapter
- Mark Jaramillo, CLTCC Rod Brady
- Joyce McDermott, ABC Ohio Valley Chapter
- LaRenquet Monger, ABC West Tennessee Chapter
- Hunter Tunmire, Northwest College of Construction
- Yahara Vazquez, Northwest College of Construction
- Mike Weltzin, ABC Northern California Chapter
