MASON CITY – North Iowa Area Community College (NIACC) conducted a Groundbreaking Ceremony for a new house build on Monday, September 19. The completed 1500 sq. ft. home will be built on the NIACC campus and then made available for sale to the public and moved to its permanent location by the new owner. Sale details have not yet been finalized, but will be available on the NIACC website in the coming weeks.
“Our Building Trades students are excited to begin building this new house,” said Gregg Helmich, NIACC Building Trades Instructor. “It is an excellent opportunity for our students to be a part of a home build from the ground up. Beyond the obvious construction skills they will develop and refine, they will also learn important decision making and problem solving skills that are critical on a job site.”
This first-of-its-kind construction project is possible because of a generous $100,000 gift to the Keeping NIACC First Capital Campaign from Dean Snyder Construction (DSC). Chelsy Snyder, Business Development for DSC, said “Over the past few years as we’ve continued to grow as a company, we’ve realized that the lack of a skilled workforce is something we needed to get proactive with. We started by looking at our own workforce and determined that the majority of our top superintendents and skilled construction workers are ones that we’ve trained from the bottom up, right out of high school or a trades program. That is when we decided to invest our time and money into community outreach specifically with high school and community college level trades students.”
Snyder said, “The NIACC Building Trades program is a great start for those students that are interested in a career in the skilled trades, architecture, or engineering, and this house build program will provide lifelong tools for these individuals to utilize.”
Speaking about the company’s commitment to promoting the trades as a viable career option for students, Snyder said, “It all of a sudden became more than just a workforce issue.” According to Snyder, the $100,000 donation was a kick off to DSC’s long-term commitment to develop interest in skilled trades in the construction industry in North Iowa. She said, “We also began DSC’s Onsite Lunch & Learn program in December 2015. This 1.5-2hr event takes place on an actual jobsite and has been another great investment for
DSC and a recruiting platform for NIACC as the ultimate goal is to bring business, industry, teachers and students together to directly target the potential upcoming trades’ workforce. Working closely with the school system we discovered that many students simply need direction or a positive outlet in a society that has historically been 4-year-college driven.”
“If we can have an impact on just one student,” Snyder said, “whether it be showing them a “career” in the trades, as opposed to just a “job”, or giving them a second chance to reach their full potential, then it’s all worth it. It could be life changing or life saving for some kids and we hope it does just that.”
Anyone interested in the house build is invited to follow the progress on the NIACC Building Trades Facebook page.
