On Monday of this week we welcomed Kyle Kozak, the Carpentry Program Manager for The Open Door Group, and a group of bright young women who are looking for a career in the construction trades, to the FTI of BC. These women are all part of a cohort of individuals who are undergoing a ten week “Women In The Trades” introductory program, specifically geared towards introducing women to the construction trades.
Director of Training for the FTI, Paddy Byrne, had been in discussions with Kozak since early summer with regard to looking at opportunities for his WITT group to explore what was involved in an apprenticeship through the four finishing trades programs we instruct at our facility. Based on the feedback we received from the group, a career in the finishing trades was a very attractive option. Given the fact that DC 38 contractors are going through a period of high employment and everyone of them is looking for the right individual to hire, the timing couldn’t have been better for the Open Door Group and the WITT program participants to come through our doors.
After the visit, some of the women who expressed an interest in our programs asked Kozak to follow up with us and see who they would need to contact to start a career in the finishing trades. We have now provided everyone who was on the tour with the contact information of all of our business representatives for each of the specific trades. We look forward to some of the women in the WITT program launching a career with one of our contractors.
With only a small percentage of women choosing to work in the construction trades, the FTI of BC is looking to do our part in showing more women the rewards that come with working in construction, and in particular, the finishing trades.