Construction apprenticeship pipeline choked
By Anna Pratt (September 19, 2007)
Originally published in The Spokesman-Recorder
Program downsizing appears to contradict St. Paul’s commitment to diversity in construction trades
One day in late July, Vanessa Levingston was escorted out of the Martin Luther King (MLK) Recreation Center in St. Paul, along with a female coworker, after being abruptly let go from the Apprenticeship Opportunities Pilot Program (AOPP) that has been housed in the building.
AOPP is a joint initiative between the City, St. Paul YWCA, and other community agencies to enhance opportunities for minorities and women in construction. Levingston, who served as its outreach and recruitment liaison, and her coworker, Andrea Callendar, were told that AOPP was struggling financially and it could no longer afford to keep them on.
The women, who are both African American, were laid off on the spot without any notice. They were given a couple of cardboard boxes to pack up their things, plus a two-week severance package that was later extended to four weeks. Only one employee, the executive director for AOPP, Mary Dahlquist, who is White, was retained.
Now, AOPP is relocating to the Saint Paul Trades and Labor Building to cut down on the cost of renting office space at the MLK Center.
Over the past year, some City and State officials have touted AOPP as a striking example of how the City is working to improve the landscape for those who are typically left out when it comes to receiving economic opportunities. St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman, for instance, mentioned the initiative as part of his first State of the City Address.
But some people are more skeptical of the City’s effort to reach out to women and minorities. The fact that AOPP has been forced to shrink its office and staff displays a lack of commitment to the program, Levingston says, while other critics point to weak leadership and poor planning. Some AOPP representatives say unforeseen challenges led to the cutbacks and a revised formula for how it delivers services.
As a result of a less-than-vibrant construction market, the program has shifted its focus to become more of an educational resource, arming customers with information about the industry rather than jobs. “It wasn’t right the first time, which it usually isn’t,” said Dahlquist, who is now running the program solo. “It’s a good program. We’ll roll with the punches and re-invent it. There’s enough interest out there to help get us through growing pains.”
About AOPP
Traditionally, construction jobs have been passed down through family members, predominantly White males. To buck this trend, St. Paul enacted an ordinance last year that requires municipal projects totaling $50,000 or more have a workforce that reflects at least 15 percent apprentices on a project, with additional goals for hiring minorities and women. Under the law, contractors must demonstrate that they are making a “good faith effort” to meet these guidelines, the ordinance states.
To help contractors, the City set in place the framework for AOPP to create a pipeline of apprentices, according to information from the City’s office of Minority Business Development and Retention (MBDR). The Northwest Area Foundation, Bigelow Foundation and St. Paul Foundation contributed the funding to launch the pilot, which was modeled after a successful project in Seattle. A steering committee comprised of a cross-section of community members representing area stakeholders was also established to make decisions for the program.
One tenet of AOPP’s mission is to “empower women, people of color and low-income adults by providing construction trades opportunities through education and advocacy.”
Basically, AOPP aims to educate career-seekers about the apprenticeship system and the industry, according to information from the organization. It helps existing apprentices and pre-apprentices research a trade, including application process and training. On top of connecting people with certain organizations, AOPP prepares potentials for interviews and provides follow-up down the road.
It is also working to attract a new crop of apprentices through outreach within the St. Paul Public Schools. So far, AOPP has seen 76 career-seekers and made presentations to over 300 high school students, Dahlquist cited.
This is new territory for children. “No one is telling them about trades careers. Kids are really foggy on that whole process and what it means for their skills and career desires,” she said.
There’s a huge demand for licensed trades, but because they involve math tests, it can be challenging for those who’ve been out of school for some years. That’s why AOPP also hosts occasional math trainings.
Levingston, whose outreach efforts have been highly visible in the community, criticized AOPP’s focus, saying that it made it compete with other programs, especially at promotional events. For one thing, retention, generally, should’ve been stressed more.
“If you make sure people stay employed, that’s where you can see the most success,” she said. Also, the labor unions need to play a greater role in assigning apprentices to jobs, she noted.
Another stumbling block had been that much of AOPP’s clientele had felonies on their records or just weren’t ready to work. Altogether, it seems like there have been too many setbacks. “It was put in place to appease the community at a time when there was a lot of development happening,” Levingston said of the program. “A lot of times we’re being told that there’s really not that much work. Well, there’s really not that much work for people of color.”
Looking to the future
Right now, there aren’t enough minority apprentices, said Readus Fletcher, executive director of the City’s Minority Business Development and Retention (MBDR) department. Fletcher also serves on a steering committee for AOPP. During planning phases, he said, development was booming.
Times have changed since then, with fewer projects underway and a failing housing market. Unlike the Seattle program, right now many experienced tradesmen in the area are waiting on the bench for jobs, while those who are near retirement age have been slower to retire than anticipated.
It touches on critical workforce issues. “The City is interested in getting more women and minorities into jobs. I think the goals are key,” Fletcher said.
He expects the program to move forward for another year. It’ll be reworked with information from the City’s compliance audit of its practices regarding minority contractors coupled with results from a disparity study, or a marketplace analysis, both of which are still underway, he said.
Harry Melander, who works for the St. Paul Building and Construction Trades Council as executive secretary and serves as the chair for AOPP’s steering committee, emphasized its advocacy role for those who are underrepresented in the construction trades. “It’s really the connection between the community, individual, building trades and projects,” he said.
In the coming years, he said, minorities will figure much more prominently in the construction industry as buildings are updated to be more energy efficient and infrastructure becomes a bigger priority.
“We’ll get where we need to go. I keep telling people not to give up on us yet. It’s evolutionary. There’ll be many opportunities for all people who want to enter the construction industry,” he said.
St. Paul City Councilmember Debbie Montgomery (Ward 1), who introduced the City ordinance for apprentices in construction projects, acknowledged that there have been some casualties along the way. “I know that the young people think we sold them out. We didn’t. We need to address some issues before we even get more funding,” she said.
Although both Levingston and Callendar are Black, “I don’t think this is an issue that is Black or White, Montgomery said. “We had to make some hard decisions. How can you go out and recruit for a program you don’t have the funding for? As a whole, the City wants to make sure that everybody is engaged in the program… The contractors, unions and City are committed.”
Anna Pratt welcomes reader responses at prat0073@hotmail.com.