Boldt Construction hosts 'signing day' event for its youth apprentices
APPLETON (WLUK) -- A local construction company is helping build a foundation for high schoolers who say they want a career in the field.
Boldt Construction celebrated its youth apprentices with a "signing day" Wednesday.
The event featured live, hands-on demonstrations with equipment.
And the apprentices signed "letters of intent" to their chosen college or union to start their career. They are:
- Alec Pelischek – Denmark High School
- Anna Schueller – Notre Dame Academy
- Ashton Gwiazda – Ladysmith High School
- Bailey Coenen – Hortonville High School
- Ben Klein – Kimberly High School
- Brandon Barth – Seymour High School
- Bryce Moder – Hortonville High School
- Charlie Nushart – Kaukauna High School
- Claire Novin – Kimberly High School
- David Hurtgen – Fond du Lac High School
- Jake Biermann – Fond du Lac High School
- Michelle Gaddy – Ladysmith High School
- Mike Ritter – Manistique High School
- Natalie Thorp – Hortonville High School
- Owen Kirsteatter – Stevens Point Area Senior High
- Tyler Carpenter – Kimberly High School
Following the signing day, approximately 100 students from Kimberly, Little Chute, Appleton, and Fond du Lac will arrive for BuildX and get an immersive experience in the construction industry. Professionals from skilled trades, including Boldt, Tweet Garot and Baisch Engineering will give live demonstrations of a variety of architecture/engineering/construction careers.
The career field is experiencing a high demand due to labor shortages. In 2023, the industry will need to bring in nearly 590,000 new workers nationwide on top of normal hiring to meet industry demand.
“This is not your grandfather’s construction industry,” said Ben Bruns, executive vice president and general manager for Boldt. “Our industry is innovating and making the nature of construction work safer, more collaborative, and technology-centric.”
In addition, an estimated 1.2 million construction workers will leave their jobs to work in other industries in 2022.