Westchester construction group launches trades career campaign

The Construction Industry Council of Westchester & Hudson Valley rolled out a new campaign Sept. 29 in White Plains to steer young adults toward skilled construction trades. The effort aims to widen awareness of apprenticeships, hands-on training and career paths that can lead to long-term, family-supporting jobs without a four-year degree.

Why it matters: - The campaign targets a workforce gap in the Hudson Valley construction industry. - The effort is designed to show young adults that skilled trades can offer training, advancement and pay while learning. - The campaign also aims to broaden who sees construction as a career option, including women and other groups underrepresented in the trades.

What happened: - The Construction Industry Council of Westchester & Hudson Valley, Inc. held a press event Sept. 29 at the Elizabeth Seton Young Adult Center construction site, 317 North Street in White Plains. - The event launched a new advertising campaign encouraging young adults to explore careers in the skilled construction trades. - The campaign highlights opportunities in the building and construction industry and pushes back on the idea that a four-year college degree is the only path to success. - The campaign is a joint effort with the Building Contractors Association of Westchester & The Mid-Hudson Region, Inc.

The details: - The campaign will focus on hands-on training, career advancement and the ability to earn while learning. - The effort is part of a broader push to strengthen the region's construction workforce and connect the next generation with long-term careers. - John Cooney Jr., executive director of the Construction Industry Council of Westchester & Hudson Valley, said young people should know the skilled trades belong among their options. - Cooney said the campaign is meant to show that workers can build a career, learn a valuable skill, earn while they learn and help build their communities. - The Elizabeth Seton site was chosen as a backdrop because it reflects major construction work happening across Westchester and the Hudson Valley. - The project is presented as an example of the kind of community investment that depends on skilled tradespeople. - Recent workforce efforts have focused on exposing students and young adults to construction careers. - Those efforts also have expanded awareness of apprenticeship opportunities. - The campaign says trades careers can provide a pathway to the middle class without the student debt often tied to traditional college education. - The construction industry includes more than 20 skilled trades through building and construction trade unions. - The industry offers career paths for people who like working with their hands, solving problems, using technology, building things and seeing tangible results. - The two groups have emphasized expanding opportunities for women and other historically underrepresented groups in construction. - The Construction Industry Council represents more than 600 businesses in the region's construction industry, including contractors, suppliers, consultants and other construction-related professionals. - The council says its work includes advancing the Hudson Valley construction industry, promoting infrastructure investment, creating stable jobs, supporting safe workplaces and providing meaningful career opportunities. - More information is available on the council's website.

Between the lines: - The campaign is as much about changing perceptions as it is about recruiting workers. - By focusing on earning potential, apprenticeships and advancement, the message competes directly with the long-standing college-first narrative. - Choosing a visible active construction site gives the campaign a concrete example of how trades workers shape local development.

What's next: - The advertising campaign will continue promoting construction careers to young adults across the region. - The council and the contractors association are expected to keep building awareness around apprenticeships and workforce entry points. - The groups are likely to keep emphasizing pathways that lead to stable, family-supporting jobs in the trades.

The bottom line: - Westchester and Hudson Valley construction leaders are making a direct push to recruit the next generation of skilled trades workers by reframing construction as a career with training, mobility and long-term payoffs.