Speaking with leaders in the construction industry at Collbran Job Corps’ Distant Industry Advisory Council meeting, Dee Funkhouser, State of Colorado, Department of Labor & Employment, Labor Market Information, included in her presentation the Colorado Statewide 2010 Annual Average Employment, a chart that listed 20 industry sectors, ranking construction ninth. Funkhouser’s data laden material was delivered in an easy going, easy to understand manner, with plenty of take-away material and all attendees participating.
     Terry Kish, Director of Safety and Workforce Development, Colorado Contractors Association, talked about the country’s aging infrastructure, with a warning that the the U.S. may be facing a decline of 40% of its available construction workforce in 2014-16. Twenty percent of those construction workers who have been laid off for over a year will not be returning to the industry and 20% of the construction workers will be retiring from construction during those years. Kish strong suggested, “We need to look at how we fund training and outreach.”