In the blog.

In the Blog.

by Marek Brothers on

Construction Citizen’s Elizabeth McPherson joined MAREK’s Laura Contreras on a jobsite last year to discuss her success through a NCCER training course at Community Family Centers (CFC). After completing the program at CFC, Laura was immediately hired by MAREK to work in their new flooring division. While Contreras’s mother was taking English… read more

by Marek Brothers on

The following article was authored by David C. Phillips and originally published in AWCI's Construction Dimensions magazine. A recent survey of the construction industry revealed that the biggest concerns among contractors for 2020 are not a lack of work, but worker quality and worker shortages, which can result in companies walking away from… read more

by Mike Holland on

How do you get a job without the right skills or credentials? How do you gain the right skills or credentials to get or succeed in a job if you can’t pay for the education needed to obtain them? From an employer’s perspective, how can you attract eager workers, ensure they develop the skills they need, observe their suitability for long-term… read more

by Marek Brothers on

Pop quiz: What’s the most valuable resource in construction? If your answer is a specific building material, process, or even technology, you’d be incorrect. Construction’s most valuable resource: people.

by Arthur Ehmling on

A construction craft professional was just assigned his first supervisor position as the jobsite foreman. Things went relatively well while the crew was small. As other crafts ramped up, it was necessary for his crew to increase in numbers to keep the job schedule on track. As he was accustomed to working with an experienced crew, he didn’t know… read more

by Marek Brothers on

Craft professionals in construction have the “gift of choice” and the chance to be the author of their own future. That was the main message from Mike Bellaman, President and CEO of the Associated Builders and Contractors, as he spoke to students graduating from the Workforce Development Program at MAREK this year.

by Marek Brothers on

When you ask Sam Nunez, Corporate Controller at MAREK, what he thinks about training programs at work, he will give you a straightforward answer. “It’s not an option, it’s a must. You’ve got to have (a training program.)” In fact, Sam believes in the value of training employees so much, that he recently shared his insight on a panel at the… read more

by Marek Brothers on

MAREK Field Supervisor Jaime Ramos was recognized Friday at AGC Houston’s Patrick J. Kiley Excellence in Leadership Awards Program as the 2018 AGC Standard of Excellence Award winner. Jaime, nominated by McCarthy Builders for his outstanding work on the Museum of Fine Arts Houston (MFAH) Glassell School project last year, shares this award with… read more

by Marek Brothers on

A few weeks ago, I had an opportunity to visit the jobsite of the new Memorial Hermann patient care tower in the Texas Medical Center, where I spoke with two MAREK craft professionals who are both working on the project, and who both happen to be women. This is the second of those two interviews, in which I interviewed foreman Gloria Palau about… read more

by Marek Brothers on

The following article was authored by Elizabeth McPherson and originally published on Construction Citizen.Last month I visited an active construction site in the Texas Medical Center where I was able to interview two MAREK craft professionals who are both working on a hospital construction project, and who both happen to be women.  This is… read more

by Marek Brothers on

In the October 2018 issue of Construction Dimensions, the national publication of the Association of the Wall and Ceiling Industry (AWCI), Mike Holland, COO of Houston-based MAREK and one of our authors, was quoted along with a group of national specialty contractors about the causes and possible solutions to the ongoing skilled labor shortages… read more

by Marek Brothers on

In partnership with MAREK, UpSkill Houston created the video below, “What are you up for,” featuring Keith McCray, MAREK Leadman. The goal of this campaign is to help break down barriers, foster open dialogue, and create a singular vision to power solutions that prepare Houston’s workforce for good-paying middle-skill jobs in high demand… read more

by Marek Brothers on

The following article was authored by Scott Braddock and originally published on ConstructionCitizen.com.Despite the efforts of Houston and Texas construction leaders to bolster the workforce in a variety of ways, a staggering 78 percent of contractors in this state still say they are struggling to find qualified craft workers needed to keep up… read more

by Marek Brothers on

There are many challenges in the construction industry, but one of the largest is the availability of craft-worker manpower. According to The National Association of Women in Construction, women only comprise nine percent of the total craft-worker workforce, so construction companies could see a huge boost in their recruitment efforts by targeting… read more

by Mike Holland on

I recently had the privilege of offering testimony before the United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) in Washington, DC related to the expansion of apprenticeship programs designed to create new opportunities. I was testifying on behalf of Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC), a national… read more

by Marek Brothers on

The following was authored by Scott Braddock and originally published on Construction Citizen.Every summer, MAREK celebrates employees with a graduation dinner where craft professionals are honored for reaching various milestones over the last year in the construction firm’s Workforce Development (WFD) Program. The dinner this past… read more

by Marek Brothers on

The goal of all craft training is to build new knowledge, skills and abilities in our craft workforce. The best way to ensure this happens is to build programs that include both passive and active forms of learning activities. Passive learning occurs during lectures, videos, readings, and demonstrations. The learner is engaged with the content but… read more

by Marek Brothers on

The industry has been told that the current skilled labor shortages will get worse as the economy improves, a generation of aging skilled workers retires and a new generation enters the industry. Key to that recruitment of a new skilled workforce is a well-defined and executed training program. To assist in training and development of high caliber… read more

by Marek Brothers on

The following article was authored by Chuck Gremillion, Executive Director of the Construction Career Collaborative.One of the questions that I am often asked when I speak to folks in the commercial construction industry about our work at Construction Career Collaborative is “When is C3 going to begin recruiting kids coming out of high school?”… read more

by Marek Brothers on

Construction executives from around the Houston area gathered this week to learn more about how they can create “a robust craft training program in your organization and link it to a career path” through an initiative that continues to grow. Those were the words of Chuck Gremillion, Executive Director of the Construction Career Collaborative, as… read more