High School Students to Participate in Regional Competition Designed to Inspire Tomorrow’s Skilled Workforce
Nine National Qualifying Rounds to be held on Saturday
Atlanta—High school students from around the U.S. and Canada will participate in nine regional Construction Challenge competitions to qualify for the international finals taking place in March. The Construction Challenge differs from other student competitions because it is connected to an industry actively looking for talented and motivated individuals for a wide range of careers that directly contribute to a high quality of life for all.
The construction industry has the potential to produce tens of thousands of higher-earning jobs. Yet, because of retirements and a lack of technical training in today’s schools, the industry still faces a severe shortage of qualified workers to meet future needs and will create more than 1 million new jobs by 2012. Students who participate in the nationwide competition will learn about rewarding, interesting and lucrative careers in the industry, from engineering, project management, and service technicians, to sales, marketing, systems and related jobs.
The top 24 student teams that advance from the regional qualifiers held across the United States and Canada will compete at the CONEXPO-CON/AGG exposition in March 2011 in Las Vegas. Regional Rallies are being held in Atlanta, Chicago, Cincinnati, Dallas, Enid, Okla., Milwaukee, Richmond, Seattle and Toronto.
WHEN:
Sat., Jan. 15, 2011 from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. (all times local)
Competition begins at 10 a.m. Closing Ceremony scheduled for 6 p.m.
WHERE:
Chicago Qualifying Rally (Students from Illinois): Carpenters Union Apprentice &Training Center, 2141 S. Union Ave., Chicago, IL, 60616-1091
Cincinnati Qualifying Rally (Students from Ohio, Pennsylvania, Kentucky and Missouri): Northwest High School, 10761 Pippin Rd, Cincinnati, OH 45238
Dallas Qualifying Rally (Students from Texas): MacArthur High School, 3700 N. MacArthur, Irving, TX 75062
Milwaukee Qualifying Rally (Wisconsin, Illinois and North Dakota): The Milwaukee School of Engineering, 1025 N. Broadway, Milwaukee, WI, 53203
Oklahoma City (Enid) Qualifying Rally (Students from Oklahoma and Kansas): Enid High School, 611 West Wabash Ave., Enid, Okla., 73701
Richmond Qualifying Rally (Students from Virginia): Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School for Government and International Studies, 1000 N. Lombardy St., Richmond, VA 23220
Seattle Qualifying Rally (Students from Washington, California and Montana): Western Washington Sheet Metal JATC, 11831 Beverly Park Rd, B-1, Everett, Wash., 98204
Toronto Qualifying Rally (Students from Toronto): Lakeshore Collegiate Institute, 350 Kipling Ave., Etobicoke, Ontario
WHEN:
Sat., Jan. 22, 2011 from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. (all times local)
Competition begins at 10 a.m. Closing Ceremony scheduled for 6 p.m.
WHERE:
Atlanta Qualifying Rally (Students from Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee) Atlanta Carpenters Training Center, 3500 Atlanta Industrial Dr. NW, Atlanta, Ga., 30331
The Construction Challenge sponsored by Volvo Construction Equipment is a joint effort by the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) and Destination ImagiNation (DI). The Construction Challenge offers a chance for students, teachers, parents and community leaders to learn more about the relationship between construction, infrastructure and quality of life. The Challenge also draws attention to the industry’s need for skilled employees to tackle infrastructure problems such as crumbling bridges, overcrowded roadways and aging water and wastewater systems. Visit www.constructionchallenge.org for more information.
Since its inception, the AEM Construction Challenge has directly engaged more than 10,000 middle and high school students across North America, and the program and its messages have made an impression on more than 18 million students globally. Nearly 70 percent of Challenge participants said they are now considering a construction career. AEM’s support for the construction equipment industry is also demonstrated in the association’s “I Make America” campaign that highlights the importance of infrastructure investment for the country’s long-term prosperity.
About the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM)
AEM is the North American-based international trade group providing innovative business development resources to advance the off-road equipment manufacturing industry in the global marketplace. AEM membership comprises more than 800 companies and 200-plus product lines in the agriculture, construction, forestry, mining and utility sectors worldwide. AEM is headquartered in Milwaukee, with offices in the capitals of Washington, D.C., Ottawa and Beijing, as well as a European presence in Brussels. www.aem.org