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JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) – Workers are desperately needed in construction and manufacturing, and Build MS is working to fill that gap.
Industry experts say there is a lack of sufficient skilled labor, and housing and building construction projects are being delayed.
Nearly 200 high school and college students welded, hammered and wired their hands at the Build MS Skills USA State competition held at the Mississippi Trade Mart. The ultimate goal is to fill coveted jobs.
Experts say more than 100,000 skilled craftsmen will be needed for construction and manufacturing.
“I like framing. It’s numbers. You have to be good at math,” said Sawyer Eubanks.
A George County high school student wants to become a carpenter.
“I would love to go out and work with one of the construction teams or companies around here and start from there and move on to road work,” Eubanks said.
Industry experts were there. Project managers acted as judges and took advantage of recruitment opportunities.
Myke Shirley is the program coordinator for the Construction and Trades program at Meridian Community College. He teaches carpentry, but he’s seeing the availability of skilled labor rapidly dwindling, he said.
“Two years ago, a contractor told me that if they had 150 graduates, they would take them all,” Shirley said. “The range of jobs is expanding. It’s federal jobs, state jobs, privately funded jobs, commercial jobs, and there aren’t enough people to fill them.”
Tucker Cochran, 17, is in George County High School’s carpentry program and built a covered shooting stand for the competition.
“I think we need more people to do that,” Cochran said. “We’re short-staffed right now. It’s not the hardest thing in the world, but it’s what we need.”
“Many of our students will be leaving here today with job offers,” said Build MS President Brent Bean.
Build MS has been running this competition for seven years to help secure construction and manufacturing jobs.
“The jobs are there. You see it everywhere,” Bean said. “Buildings are being built. New bridges are being built, but what we’re having trouble with is finding skilled labor to actually do the work.”
Wednesday was the second day of the two-day statewide competition.
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