In a post on Construction Citizen, Executive Director of Construction Career Collaborative (C3) Chuck Gremillion discusses the inaugural C3 Town Hall meetings recently held in Houston:
If one thing is for certain, the Construction Career Collaborative (C3) and its message continue to resonate throughout the commercial building industry. That is not only my opinion, but the consensus opinion of the panelists and attendees following the inaugural C3 Town Hall meetings. These meetings, held June 30th and July 7th at the offices of the ABC and the AGC, respectively, addressed questions, misconceptions, challenges and successes of the industry-wide workforce effort.
The candid conversations included the all too familiar refrains of “making a career in construction attractive again”; “eliminating improper employment practices”; and “the need to reintroduce craft training in all areas of construction”. The majority, if not all, of the attendees, readily understand what the issues are. They also agree that this effort, led by C3 and supported by companies committed to construction careers, can begin to reshape our industry.
However, the theme that seemed to resonate the most with those in attendance was a point made by Pete Dawson (Texas Children’s Hospital), and supported by Spencer Moore (M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and the University of Texas), that owners are looking for value, not just low price. Dawson and Moore both emphasized that they are serial builders who are interested most in the quality of the buildings constructed for them because they know that a high-quality building will have lower maintenance costs and a longer life. This philosophy seemed to surprise some specialty contractors who expressed the sentiment that they believed that owners were only interested in the lowest bid.
Click to learn more about the discussions that were held by the panelists and attendees in these meetings.