The Oregon Building Congress

OBC President's Message

As Oregon Building Congress enters this new decade, it gives us a chance to reflect on where we have come from, where we are going, and, most importantly, what difference will we make.

OBC was founded nearly ninety years ago to develop apprenticeship training programs and standards that were nonexistent in Oregon. These programs are now subject to the control and direction of the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries and the various Joint Apprenticeship Training Committees.

With that issue resolved, OBC changed its mission to influencing educational systems to help provide our industry with a better prepared more diverse pool of future workforce applicants. It is our job to lead the next generation of craft and tradespersons who will be building the future for us and for generations to come. Recently our efforts have focused on:
• Student Programs, 
• Teacher Workshops, 
• Building Futures Magazine,
• OBC's Sustainable Building Initiative, and
• the Academy for Architecture, Construction & Engineering (ACE).

Click here to view our brochure

OBC’s crowning achievement has to be the Academy for Architecture, Construction, and Engineering (ACE). ACE Academy students are juniors and seniors from five school districts who have a tremenous opportunity to earn English, Math and Science credits based on actual proficiencies used in and on construction projects.

With the phenomenal success of the ACE Academy, it is clear that our mission for the foreseeable future must be to replicate this model all over Oregon and promote it in other states. This is a monumental task that will take far more than our current resources to accomplish. As an industry, we need to make an investment in the one organization that is truly preparing a better prepared and more diversified future construction workforce. Please consider investing in Oregon Building Congress where you know your investment will not only make a difference, but pay huge dividends for decades to come.

Sincerely,

Al DeVita
OBC President  

What's Going On at OBC 

Coming: OBC Construction Academy for students grades 8-12. Check back soon for more details.

Coming: STEM Camp in partnership with MAD Science. Check back soon for more details.

Building Futures Spring/Summer 2012 issue now available!

Learn more about construction-related opportunities throughout the region with articles such as:

• Oregon Building Congress looking forward
• Rewarding Work: OTI's Career Class
• Sheet Metal Workers partner with Springfield-area school district to offer class
• AGC Student Chapters: Growing Leaders
• GSA's NW/Arctic Region project team reaches out to local students
• Earth Advantage Institute to expand products and services in 2012
• Building on what has come before

 Click here to read this e-issue - now available for ipad and mobile devices!