North Idaho students get hands-on look at construction jobs

If only Ilene Thompson’s five brothers could have seen her Tuesday.

Nestled in the cage of a small earthmover, the Post Falls High School student charged a pile of gravel, plunged the shovel in, and backed out with a load she deposited back on the pile. Another charge, another scoop, this time lifted overhead for a satisfying cascade of rock and dirt when the shovel was tipped.

“It was sweet. The whole thing,” Thompson said after jumping down from the cab, big smile and pigtails bobbing.

Three of her brothers work in construction, she said. “They always thought I was too much of a girl to do it.”

Thompson and hundreds of North Idaho middle and high school students gathered for a manufacturing and construction career day at the Kootenai County Fairgrounds.

“Hard Hats, Hammers and Hot Dogs” was organized to introduce them to blue-collar jobs that pay well and will become increasingly abundant as the present work force retires, said coordinator Vicki Isakson of the Idaho Department of Labor.

“The manufacturing and construction industries are facing a severe shortage of skilled workers,” she said.

The event was hands-on, from the heavy equipment outside to the torches, welding gear and cement trowels inside.

At times, the bang of hammer on nail was so loud conversation failed. Wind and diesel blasts had the same effect outside.

Lake City High School junior Mike Dougall said he takes mostly academic courses, but a spin on a Bobcat turned his head a little. He also tried hammering, drywall and working with cement.

“I like the machines,” Dougall said.

Lakeland High School’s Caiden Carruthers, also a junior, drove several pieces of equipment. He said he will take classes at North Idaho College next year to get more grounding for a possible career in the trades. He’s also considering firefighting.

Pay between $20 an hour and $25 an hour is a real selling point, he said.

Or starting point, to listen to E. Scott Tecca, vice president of Inland Northwest Consultants, which provides planning and engineering services. He was explaining high-tech surveying devices to students he hoped might enter the field. The average Idaho surveyor is 55 years old, and the rate of retirement has been outpacing the rate of recruitment, he said.

Idaho will require a four-year degree for surveyors after 2010, Tecca said, but pay averages between $65,000 and $75,000 annually for license-holders. Even field workers earn up to $25 an hour.

The story is the same for many trades, and school systems and work force training organizations around the country have mobilized to take that message to teachers, and to students as young as 14 who may not be aware of the opportunities open to those who do not go to college.

Rick Pickel, sales manager for Haskins Steel Co. Inc. in Spokane, said schools and industry have lost touch with each other.

Events like career days are closing the gap, he said.

It’s none too soon in Kootenai County, where unemployment has ranged below 3 percent, and the need for more workers is particularly critical, said Jonathan Coe, president of the Coeur d’Alene Chamber of Commerce.

The career day, a job fair at the fairgrounds today, and other training, apprenticeship and recruitment efforts are all Kootenai County Workforce Development Task Force programs intended to address the shortage, he said.

Pat Behm, engineering and technology teacher at Lake City, said even students who do not shine in the classroom were clearly getting the message.

“They’re here and they’re happy,” he said. “This is the kind of stuff they will remember.”