One of my mentors, Tim Johnson, has always said that it is it important for us to seek out quality workforce programs and recognize these “pockets of excellence”.  I agree.

I recently attended a Construction Career Day held in Irving, Texas at the Construction Education Foundation of North Texas (CEF) [11].  CEF was founded in 1981 and is supported by numerous industry partners and associations.  Through their agreement with North Lake College, students are able to receive college credit for their craft training classes.  Industry support for the foundation is broad based, and the foundation continues to offer quality craft training programs to the residents of North Texas.

I toured their facilities during my visit and viewed students competing for a coveted spot in the ABC National Craft Championship Competition [12].  If you have never attended a craft championship competition, you want to correct that.  It‘s a great event.

I enjoyed watching the high school students come and go and interact with craft competitors.  It was very much like taking a look into the future – watching those young people.  And the future looked good.