UWs Construction Management Program Receives Grant for Workforce Training

The University of Wyoming College of Engineering and Applied Science’s Construction Management Program has received a $452,522 grant that will help support construction training in Wyoming.

The Wyoming Department of Workforce Services awarded the funds through its Workforce Development Training Fund (WDTF). This is the first award of this type for the Construction Management Program.

The WDTF is a unique Wyoming-based program connecting employers with professional development opportunities to increase employee skill attainment and earning power.

“This grant will help the UW Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering and the Construction Management Program to connect with industry and construction companies by providing training to workers in the sector,” says Francois Jacobs, the grant’s principal investigator and UW civil and architectural engineering and construction management associate professor.

The Wyoming Department of Workforce Services says construction led all sectors in job growth in Wyoming during each quarter since 2018. Heavy and civil engineering construction added the greatest number of jobs, followed by the construction of buildings and specialty trade contractors.

“The need for qualified construction professionals will grow as a result of the increasing complexity of construction projects, including the need to deal with the proliferation of construction laws, worker safety and environmental issues,” Jacobs says. “The need to provide construction workers with needed industry training is crucial to the future growth of the construction sector in Wyoming and the future earning potential of its workers.”

The goals of the program include:

-- Developing a body of knowledge, in the form of training modules, that is unique to construction skill training in Wyoming, with specific reference to site and project management; site and worker safety; estimating; scheduling; and evolving technologies in construction.

-- Implementing training for a minimum of 40 construction practitioners/workers per semester to obtain stackable credentials toward a certificate of completion.

-- Building partnerships with community-based organizations to address gaps in industry training.

“A pervasive need exists for construction training in the state of Wyoming, and UW’s College of Engineering and Applied Science sees this training opportunity as an extension of its construction management curriculum to work with industry professionals across the state,” Jacobs says.

WDTF key partners include various construction associations in the state, such as the Wyoming Contractors Association, the Wyoming Construction Coalition, the Southeast Wyoming Builders Association and the Laramie Workforce Center.

To learn more about the WDTF partnership and UW’s Construction Management Program, visit www.uwyo.edu/civil/construction-management/index.html.