Displaying items tagged: West Michigan Construction Institute

GRAND RAPIDS — The West Michigan Construction Institute will facilitate more specialized trades training programs as part of a $3 million second-phase expansion.

Ahistoric influx of federal stimulus and infrastructure funding, combined with the state’s full-court press for large battery manufacturing plants, is on a collision course with a widespread construction labor shortage.

Construction employment in the Muskegon metropolitan area grew at the fourth fastest rate nationally from July 2021 to July of this year. 

A state budget deal announced last week allocates $16 million to construction training programs across the state to help combat the industry’s ongoing labor challenges.

The construction industry experienced widespread pauses on projects in 2020 during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the backlog made for a packed year in 2021, which features a range of ongoing projects including housing developments and reuses of former industrial buildings.

LANSING — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has signed a state budget for the new fiscal year that includes hundreds of millions of dollars for childcare and talent development, as well as more than $23 million in one-time spending for various Kent County developments.

GRAND RAPIDS — A hub for talent recruitment, skills development and job placement is expected to open early next year in Grand Rapids in hopes of filling the workforce pipeline for West Michigan construction jobs.