Kirkwood program prepares kids for construction careers

In 2018, Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a proclamation declaring October “Careers in Construction Month.” Since then, Aaron McGlynn has visited several city and county meetings on behalf of the homebuilders association, encouraging them to make similar proclamations for the month.

McGlynn, said the proclamations were a helpful way to de-stigmatize the construction industry.

“It just gets the word out that there’s a need for it, that there’s good careers in the construction industry,” he said. “People have been trying to break that stigma that construction jobs are low-paying or not good jobs. I always tell people, my students, I would never advocate someone not go to a four-year college if they wanted to do, but for a lot of (people) that’s not necessarily what they want to do.”

The proclamations from Johnson County, Coralville and Washington, among others, come at a time of substantial labor shortages in the industry.

“I think nationally there’s about a 300,000 job shortage right now in construction,” McGlynn said. “It’s going to take time, whether it's a place like this or an apprenticeship program. Everybody will tell you, we’ve lost a generation or two in the construction trade. A lot of people are in their fifties and sixties and retiring, and there’s not those young people coming up to replace them … it’s going to get larger if we don’t really push this at this point in time.”

Construction careers are more than an ideal for McGlynn, they’re a huge part of his day-to-day life. On top of his full-time job with Mellinger and Sons Construction, he’s an adjunct instructor for Architecture Construction Engineering (ACE) at Washington’s Kirkwood Regional Center, where he teaches morning classes for high school students four days a week.

“Honestly, I fell into it … at first I said no, but the more I thought about it, I thought maybe I’d give it a shot,” McGlynn said. “My biggest reason probably is the need that I see to put these young people out into the work force. If I can help with that, maybe steer some people in the right direction, put them in a better place than they would have been otherwise, that’s kind of become my passion.”

Regional Center Director Tera Pickens said McGlynn was a perfect fit.

“He’s awesome, students absolutely enjoy having him,” she said. “He is connected professionally with the homebuilders association, all the work that he does with professional organizations, he’s passionate about students getting into this career field.”

At this point in the school year, the classes focus on what McGlynn calls work-based learning projects. After seeking out clients in the area and making arrangements with them, students work together on real-world construction projects. Right now, they’re building a storage shed for Kirkwood’s lawn mower and a shipping container for another client.

Still, McGlynn said the goal of the courses was to blend classroom learning with hands-on experience, not favor one over the other.

“The first four weeks were basically lecture, some team building exercises, things like that,” he said. “I do try and caution people and say this isn’t shop class, you’re not just building things. When we get into plumbing and electrical we try and look at those systems. There’s a hands-on component too but we try to look at why things work and how they go together first.”

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com