Metro’s Beautiful Construction Education Center Serves Vital Trades

I often hear that jobs “in the trades” — construction, plumbing, electrical, HVAC repair, automotive maintenance, and manufacturing — go “unfilled” because of a lack of trained workers. 

I remember when I was in junior high school. It was required that we take shop class. We built things like carbon dioxide-powered race cars and pasta measuring tools. 

Bridget will tell you that skill-based courses have typically been the ones I’ve favored. Being a journalism major in college, courses like “Photography” and “Publication Design & Graphics” had more relevance to me than the myriad of theory-type courses we took as undergraduates. 

We had an opportunity to tour Metropolitan Community College’s Construction Education Center located at the Fort Omaha campus site in northeast Omaha on Thursday, Nov. 15 as part of the Omaha Press Club’s Noon Forum series. 

Dr. Nate Barry, Dean of Career and Technical Education at MCC, talked to our group about the need for properly skilled workers in the construction trades. 

“It is the first time in 30 years that construction projects are not getting done due to a lack of workers,” Barry says. 

Construction projects aren’t delayed because of a dearth of funding, according to Barry. Rather, the necessary workforce isn’t in place to complete those projects in communities around the United States. 

And the jobs aren’t going away...  

MCC’s Construction Education Center is part of a “community effort” trying to solve this issue in Omaha. The state-of-the-art facility is part of a $90 million building project that includes a new student center and the Center for Advanced and Emerging Industries (the curriculum focuses on 21st century careers like cyber-security). 

The construction building houses various construction trades under one roof, which means trades such as plumbing, electrical, and HVAC are in the same location as welding, civil engineering, construction, and architectural technology. 

This allows for a “co-mingling” of disciplines, and instructors co-teach classes so the students are ready to work in the industry — and have the ability to interact with other trades during future professional pursuits.  

The Construction Education Center features glass walls and exposed ceilings so students can get an idea of how plumbing (“Wet Walls”) and electrical systems are structured throughout the building. 

It was fun to get to experience some of the student workspaces while touring the Construction Education Center. 

This is the “residential” HVAC lab with functioning furnaces and AC units for students to work on:

The complex has a “store” with a variety of tools, parts, and supplies so students can become comfortable working with items they'll use in the workforce:

There is an electrical lab allowing students to run wire and conduit through studs, and hook up a variety of electrical items like outlets, doorbells, alarm systems, and ceiling fans: 

The facility’s “showcase” area is a two-story, glassed-in workspace (right off the main lobby) that allows students to build a 1,600 S.F. home — referred to as a “capstone project.” 

The effort allows students from different trades in the school to work together on the project — a culmination of their training at the Construction Education Center. 

The home is then transported to a neighborhood in the community for homeowner to enjoy (the house is sold by a real estate agent, and a foundation uses the money to fund a similar project). 

Barry told attendees that 50 percent of the $90 million project was funded with private donations. 

As a graduate of the University of Nebraska at Omaha, I often find myself preaching the value of a 4-year degree. While there is value in receiving your BS or BA, there are numerous jobs available requiring technical training that can be served by motivated workers coming from associate degree programs at junior colleges and trade schools.

These are good paying jobs. 

In the marketing communications business Bridget and I own, graphic design, photography, web design, basic HTML coding, and writing skills are integral to the work we do — the skills needed to compete have changed over the past 22 years.  

Institutions like Metropolitan Community College allow the Omaha workforce to get the skills-based training needed to stay competitive. 

Projects like MCC’s Construction Education Center are a benefit to our community. 

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