HOUSTON - The Greater Houston Partnership announced Thursday additional details about the organization’s office space in the new Partnership Tower. The build-out will be completed by Partnership member companies who demonstrate a commitment to developing and maintaining a quality and skilled construction workforce. The Partnership is joining with the Construction Career Collaborative, or C3, that has developed a set of principles for commercial construction companies to follow in their business practices that includes financial security, health and well-being of craft professionals, and appropriate safety and craft training for their workforce.
The Partnership, through its UpSkill Houston initiative, focuses on developing a sustainable talent pipeline for seven key industry sectors that drive Houston’s regional economy. UpSkill Houston addresses the skills gap and the looming labor shortage in Houston by increasing the number of Texans attracted to and trained for critical “middle skills” jobs such as skilled craft professionals – those requiring more than a high school education but less than a four-year college degree. UpSkill Houston brings together business, education, non-profit and community leaders to collectively address the labor shortages, skills gap and other regional workforce challenges.
“Programs like C3 exemplify the approaches championed by UpSkill Houston,” said Bob Harvey, President and CEO of the Greater Houston Partnership. “We are committed to helping develop a sustainable skilled craft workforce. We hope other building owners, developers, construction companies and building managers will join us in this commitment and build future projects incorporating C3 standards.”
C3’s mission is to create a sustainable and credentialed skilled craft workforce for the commercial construction industry. With an aging construction workforce in Houston, C3 is working to solve the problem of attracting, training, and retaining new employees in the commercial construction industry. C3 currently has 102 general contractors and specialty sub-contractors listed as Accredited Employers. Accredited Employers adhere to C3 principles that include the financial security, health and well-being of craft professionals and safety and craft training.
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“We applaud the Partnership for making this commitment to ensuring that their offices are built by companies committed to developing a sustainable skilled craft workforce,” said Chuck Gremillion, executive director of C3. “We want to raise the bar for the construction industry by making C3 principles a basic expectation of performance and the Partnership’s commitment certainly bolsters that effort. We know that owners and developers, like the Partnership, will be getting top quality construction while also doing their part to develop and sustain a pipeline of skilled craft professionals in Houston.”
Located in Partnership Tower, the Greater Houston Partnership’s offices will serve as Houston’s new “front door,” hosting business leaders and dignitaries from around the world. The 10-story tower will house the offices of the Greater Houston Partnership, Houston First, the Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Houston-Harris County Sports Authority. Partnership Tower is being developed by Houston First and built by Vaughn Construction. DE Harvey Builders is the contractor on the Partnership space. Both Vaughn and Harvey are accredited C3 companies. The tower, located at 701 Avenida De Las Americas, is connected by sky-bridge to the George R. Brown Convention Center.
For more information on C3, click here. For more information about UpSkill Houston, click here. For more information on Partnership Tower, click here.