Like most everyone else, the Construction Career Collaborative (C3) team is glad to have 2020 in our rearview mirror and move on to 2021. While 2020 was a year of growth and continued progress for C3, I believe that we can all agree that the challenges and tragedies attributed to COVID-19 make it both forgettable and unforgettable. That said, I discovered a long time ago to learn from the past, without dwelling on it, and look forward to the next chapter of life.
Chapter 2021 promises to be an eventful year for C3 beginning with the news we received that Texas Medical Center CEO, Bill McKeon, has designated the construction of its new building on the TMC III campus as a C3 Project. Because of its high profile, “TMC III” is a huge win for C3! I want to thank C3 board members, Spencer Moore of MD Anderson Cancer Center, Tom Vaughn of Vaughn Construction, and Abbey Roberson of Texas Medical Center for their advocacy and support.
The TMC III announcement compounds the excitement for C3 as we expand our reach to the Austin market this year when the construction of a new facility for Texas Children’s Hospital begins in April as a C3 Project. This is a big step for C3, and it would not be possible without the actions of C3 board members Jill Pearsall of Texas Children’s Hospital and Jim Stevenson of McCarthy Building Companies.
It is also important to note that the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston continues to be C3’s most prolific Owner. Beginning in 2015, the Archdiocese has designated 18 projects as C3 Projects with several more scheduled to begin construction in 2021 and beyond.
While C3 Projects are our lifeblood, they are not all that make C3 tick. Throughout 2020, members of the C3 Safety Committee collaborated to create a Job Hazard Analysis (JHA) tool. This JHA template will be rolled out to C3 General Contractors in the next several days for implementation beginning February 1, 2021. It is the intent of the Safety Committee that a JHA be utilized by every work crew representing every company providing construction services for each task daily on all C3 Projects. The use of the C3 best practice document is voluntary for General Contractors who already have a document that matches or exceeds the minimum elements of the C3 document.
Finally, after seven years as the point person for C3, I will be retiring on April 30, 2021. While I eagerly look forward to retirement and what’s ahead, I am very excited to announce that C3 Associate Director, Angela Robbins-Taylor, will be stepping into my role as Executive Director. Angela has been leading C3’s craft training and workforce development initiatives since 2017, and I have no doubt that she will lead C3 to new levels of success in the coming years. If you would like to congratulate her, Angela’s email address is angela@c3.org.
Thanks to each of you for your support of C3. While we have made notable progress towards our goal of strengthening a safe, skilled, sustainable craft workforce pipeline, there is still much work to do. However, as Jim Collins and Jerry Porras wrote in their best-selling book, Built to Last, the C3 flywheel is turning faster.
