NPCA Director of Workforce Development Alex Morales, M. Ed., conducted workforce development related outreach in the Northeast from Dec. 1-3.
On Dec.1-2, Morales traveled to Cornwall, Ontario to attend and offer a presentation during the 29th Annual Concrete Precasters Association of Ontario Convention, an association that represents more than 30 precast producers in the province of Ontario.
Representatives from CPA Ontario reached out earlier this fall and requested that NPCA professional staff offer workforce development-related education with a specific focus on the difficulties in finding new talent in today’s job market.
The presentation was well received by an active audience of approximately 45 attendees – many of which attended as a result of connections Morales made during the conference’s kick-off event.
Morales attributed the high level of engagement to a hunger for finding solutions to workforce development related issues, including the disconnect between the baby boomer generation and millennials.
Morales addressed the audience’s issues with managing millennials and challenged the industry to rethink how they perceive the younger generation. After the session, Morales had many discussions about improvements that can be made to mend the disconnection between millennials and baby boomers in the workforce.
On Dec. 3, Morales traveled to Clarkson University in Potsdam, N.Y., to conduct a guest lecture during Professor Pedro Fernandez-Caban’s Reinforced Concrete Design course. During the presentation, undergraduate civil engineering students learned about NPCA, the precast concrete industry, reinforcement design and concrete design.
Morales connected with in-coming (are we able to say new? Not sure when the term starts) ASC Region 1 chairman Professor Erik Backus while on campus, and the pair discussed NPCA’s potential future involvement in the ASC Region 1 student competition.
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