Encouraging high school students to consider construction careers is important to Sundt, which is why we participate each year in Arizona Construction Career Days in Phoenix. The event is a win-win for everyone. Contractors get the opportunity to attract talented young people to our industry, and in turn young people are exposed to the many rewarding career possibilities construction has to offer.
Arizona Construction Career Days is a two-day event, sponsored by the Association for Construction Career Development and hosted by the Arizona National Guard. Approximately 1,000 students from 65 schools across Arizona attended this year.
In addition to providing company literature and knowledgeable people to speak with, each year Sundt provides a hands-on activity in which students assemble wooden tool boxes that they are allowed to keep. The activity is always popular – approximately 600 tool boxes were built this year – because it gives students a chance to work with their hands and get a feel for the complexities of building, albeit on a small scale.
“While they build the toolboxes, several Sundt employees give them guidance,” said Dave Muehlbauer, Sundt’s Corporate Director of Learning and Performance Support. “Sundt has been participating in this event since it started 11 years ago. It’s about showing kids that construction offers a lot of career choices, and with the right training there are many options for earning a good living. There’s a lot of diversity in this business that people probably don’t know about until they’re exposed to it.”