New Businesses Means There's a Need for Skilled Construction Workers

As we know Reno has become a hub for new businesses. 

But with new business comes new projects, and construction companies say they're trying to keep up.

Two construction companies we spoke to said they have been extremely busy, and they are forecasting a great 2020. 

But in order to finish projects on time and meet demands they need more skilled workers.

Local construction companies say now is a good time for the industry because they are seeing profits and growth.

Craig Madole the CEO of Associated General Contractors Nevada say, "It's been incredibly busy in the last six or seven years, we have seen an increased in construction workers in the Reno area by about 11,000 people. We had 9,00 in 2012 we have about 20,00 today." 

But even with an increase in construction workers, some project are still taking time to go up. 

"Well a lot of owners may be waiting to get better pricing if things are really busy right now and things are pretty expensive. The steel tariff's, the lumber tariff's, some other things that have affected the price of construction. But it has also been affected by how busy the contractors are," says Madole.

Some things are out of construction companies control. Michael Russell is the CEO of United Construction. 

He says hiring skilled employees can get a job done more quickly and relieve some of the work load.

Russell says, "We do have a very deep shortage of skilled workers in this market, just as the rest of the country does. So I think those are delaying the project schedules themselves, not so much the start of the projects."

Russell says they were able to catch this trend early and now they are doing everything they can to train people.

"We actually started a program where we are training people in house. So we have an on-site trainer that evaluates their skill set when we hire them, and we tailor a training program for each individual."

He also says you can take courses at TMCC as well to develop skills you may need on the job.

If you are interested in construction work United Construction is hiring.

Here is a link to their careers page: http://unitedconstruction.com/careers/