A partnership between the Cleveland Building Trades and area contractor groups led to the creation of a new nonprofit organization dedicated to recruiting men and women into the union construction industry.

Cleveland Builds, a 501 (c)3 organization, will focus on helping people enter career pathways to family-sustaining jobs. It will help connect motivated Clevelanders with opportunities in construction, where they can earn quality wages, excellent medical and retirement benefits, opportunities for career advancement and many other benefits associated with union membership.

Many of the area’s building trades unions have struggled to recruit enough new members to keep pace with losses due to retirement and an increased demand to meet the area’s building boom.

“The need for qualified skilled trades is growing among our contractors,” said Tim Linville, Chief Executive Officer of the Construction Employers Association, which represents signatory contractors. “Even during the COVID-19 slowdown, contractors are experiencing problems getting enough skilled manpower.”

Linville added the problem is not necessarily just having enough people, but having enough skilled people, whose productivity meets contractors’ needs.

One objective of Cleveland Builds is to create better dialogue when it comes to personnel. It will help contractors stay abreast of what trades need people and when, which Linville said will take time and trust.

“The industry has not had that exchange of supply and demand information in the past, so we intend to address that need,” he said.

According to the organization’s website, an aging workforce, diversification of the regional economy and the educational system’s singular focus on college paths has created a growing skills shortage in northeast Ohio.

These factors not only threaten the construction industry, but greater Cleveland’s economic growth and prosperity. Cleveland Builds was created as a response to this threat by providing a successful model of pre-employment education and training for job seekers to enter into apprenticeships.

“We formed Cleveland Builds so that our collective efforts are highlighted, shared and maximized, and union contractors and the building trades recruit the best talent available,” said Linville. “Our Board of Directors is comprised of union, contractor and community leaders, working together to achieve these goals.”

Modeled after Wisconsin’s BIG STEP Program, Cleveland Builds plans to develop programs and services tailored to address specific areas of need in the regional economy, including training and recruitment efforts, which specifically benefit participants and the Cleveland workforce at-large.

The Cleveland Builds Union Construction Readiness Program empowers career-seekers to meet the talent needs of northeast Ohio contractors.

“It is intended to educate and equip motivated candidates for successfully entering an apprenticeship,” said Linville. “We plan on starting with ‘motivated candidates,’ which means we intend on finding the best talent pools and targeting our educational efforts on those resources. We believe there are motivated and talented people out there that we have not been successful in reaching in the past.

“If, after reaching those people, the trades still need more people, we will structure a job-readiness pre-apprenticeship program to bring candidates up to speed so that they can be successful in applying for an apprenticeship program,” he added.

There are only four requirements to take part in the program: participants must be at least 18 years old; have a high school diploma, GED or HSED; have a valid driver’s license and must have reliable transportation.

The program will target Cuyahoga and surrounding counties, but a greater emphasis will be placed on Cleveland and Cuyahoga County.

Cleveland Builds is a partnership made up of the following organizations: Cleveland Building and Construction Trades Council, Construction Employers Association, National Electrical Contractors Association, Mechanical and Plumbing Industry Council and Northern Ohio Painting and Taping Contractors Association.