10:44 AM PST on Thursday, December 8, 2005

Associated Press

The Oregon building industry has established a college to help address a shortage of skilled labor in the field. The Northwest College of Construction started holding evening classes at Portland's Parkrose High School this fall.

KGW

A construction worker saws away on a project in Oregon.

And work is underway on its own building in northeast Portland.

When it opens next March, the school will offer training and apprenticeship programs in carpentry, construction labor, heavy equipment operation and sheet metal work, as well as management and business courses.

The project was led by Dan Graham, workforce manager of the Oregon-Columbia chapter of the Associated General Contractors, and is a collaborative effort with four area construction trade organizations.

"There is a shortage of the skilled worker set, so opportunities like this are going to be critical for employers," Graham told The Daily Journal of Commerce in Portland.

The school will recruit recent high school graduates, and offer additional training to workers already in the industry. The school's roughly 200 initial students will attend part-time.

"The construction industry has an image problem," said Cindy Regier, director of education and training for the Associated Builders and Contractors Pacific Northwest Chapter. "It's hard to attract youth to construction when colleges are promoted as the only alternative.

The school recognizes that construction can provide long-term careers and not just a job."

The project's partners have contributed more than $700,000, and hope to raise the remaining money before work on the building is finished. Tuition will be $100 per credit hour, with most classes consisting of four credits. "We have specifically worked to keep tuition at a reasonable rate so the industry can take advantage of getting high quality training at a reasonable price," Graham said.