| bWith sandpaper steady in hand and eyes focused on his work, Sam Gaskins polished the rough edges of a porch swing Friday in his carpentry class. Now in his second semester at Louisiana Technical College's Teche campus, Gaskins, 19, enjoys working with his hands.
Just one more year of training, and Gaskins may be able to name his price as a construction worker in Louisiana. Growth and rebuilding efforts around the state aren't moving fast enough for developers, and they're hungry for talent now. "You look down in New Orleans, people are crying for people in the construction industry," said Louisiana Department of Labor spokesman Ed Pratt. "Even before the hurricane, Louisiana had a shortage of workers in construction." Instructors at LTC are called daily by employers in carpentry, electrical wiring, and air-conditioning repair. They say entry-level salaries climbed in a hurry after the hurricanes, and continue to increase. If that wasn't good enough, Gaskins' schooling is free, and he'll be given a set of tools before graduation. It's part of a tuition-free job training program for healthcare and construction trades through Louisiana Technical Colleges. The program is funded in part by an H1B grant from President Bush's "High Growth Job Training" initiative. The Louisiana Department of Labor has also put $15 million toward job skills training at LTC. "When they finish the training there are definitely jobs out there," Pratt said. "It'd be impossible not to find work, and good pay." Gaskins credits his newfound focus in part to Hurricane Rita's destruction along the coast. He worked in the Port of West St. Mary, where many businesses were gutted after flooding. When Gaskins helped put up new dry wall at Twin Brothers Marine, the work was fun. He wanted more of it, he wanted a "hands-on" career. "The fact about being able to build something with your hands, man it's something else," Gaskins said. Enrollment in each construction trade class has gone up this semester. The government grants covering tuition have brought interest back to the field, and everyone in Louisiana will benefit, says carpentry instructor Paul Poche. "With more carpenters out there, more construction and home costs will go down." Roberta Williams, a retired school teacher from New Iberia, didn't enroll in carpentry class to help kick start a new career. Each week Williams will learn something new in class, and each Saturday she'll put it towards rebuilding homes throughout Vermilion Parish. Teams of volunteers from First United Methodist Church have gutted many homes in the parish, she said. Now, Williams says, the fun part comes: "Building from scratch." |
