The Workforce Development Committee hosted several job fairs at local high schools last year, giving students (here, at Service High) hands-on experience with some of the trades they might explore.

Growing Alaska’s Construction Workforce

AGC’s Workforce Development Committee inspires Alaskans to explore construction-related careers

By Jamey Bradbury

e went from zero to one hundred this past year, going from setting our goals to getting in front of as many youth and potential workforce as possible,” reflects Kris Jensen, co-chair of the Associated General Contractors, or AGC, of Alaska’s Workforce Development Committee, or WDC—the goal of which is to address the state’s shortage of qualified construction workers.

Last year, WDC volunteers visited the freshmen classes at all eight of Anchorage’s high schools as part of its outreach to the Anchorage School District, or ASD, rousing interest in Alaska’s construction trades among at least 3,400 students. The committee also facilitated student campus visits to UAA and to worksites like Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Providence Alaska Medical Center, and Anchorage Sand & Gravel.

The ASD partnership is just one facet of a greater effort to shift perspectives when it comes to what’s possible for students and others who are contemplating future careers.

“The past couple of decades, the message to students has really been about higher education and [going into] technology pathways,” says Jensen. While both avenues are viable for some students, “our committee is working hard on trying to offer education and information to the youth on trade pathways.”

In 2024 and 2025, the WDC established several goals aimed at engaging job-seekers and students with hands-on, work-based learning opportunities. The committee’s strategies ranged from connecting with organizations and rural schools to doing outreach to Alaska’s veterans and creating the Contractor Classroom Playbook, an online guide and resource for industry stakeholders to bring the experience of working in construction into the classroom.

At job fairs hosted by the Associated General Contractors of Alaska Workforce Development Committee, students have a chance to talk with industry professionals about how to get a job in construction, salaries, apprenticeships, and more.

One of the most impactful outreach events the committee has engaged in is partnering with Kusilvak Career Academy, or KCA. A residential program located in Anchorage, KCA was established by the Lower Yukon School District to level the playing field for rural students interested in receiving career and technical education.

Volunteers from the WDC attended seven sessions during the nine-week program, introducing students to career opportunities in construction and related industries. Committee members worked with students to craft their résumés and then led them through developing a list of questions the students wanted to ask industry professionals.

The final session was a “speed interview” event. Students had the opportunity to sit down with industry leaders from eight different trades and ask them the questions they’d developed. Each of the visiting leaders talked openly about their professions and provided advice to students on ways to gain entry to the fields they were interested in.

“Engaging with students from remote locations is one of the most important goals we have,” Jensen says. “We might not reach as many students, compared to when we visit ASD schools, but these sessions are probably the most impactful work we do, per student.”

While the bulk of the WDC’s effort is focused on in-person, hands-on connection with Alaska’s future workforce, the committee has made additional strides in creating resources for educators, students, and others to explore construction jobs.

Publication of its Contractor Classroom Playbook last year provided industry professionals with a living document that provides ideas and tips for connecting with students in the classroom. The playbook can be accessed through the AGC website (look under AGC Services, then Workforce Development) and is continually reviewed and updated with ideas on how to bring construction into ASD and other school districts.

The WDC also worked with ASD to develop the Alaskan Architecture and Construction Career Tree. This document outlines exactly what education and skills can branch into construction industry jobs; it provides viewers with information about the time it takes to develop industry-specific skills, how much a worker can expect to earn at each level, and what advancement potential each job offers.

“All of the jobs and training the tree lists are Alaska-based,” Jensen says. “Youth can find the necessary training and education right here in Alaska, then get the jobs they want.”

Finally, the We Build Alaska website (WeBuildAlaska.com) has become an active forum where employers, potential employees, and educators connect to learn more about construction training and careers.

This year, the Workforce Development Committee will work on additional opportunities to engage job-seekers and students with hands-on, work-based opportunities.

Based on the WDC’s success over the past year, the committee is expanding its focus. In September, committee members planned to begin reaching out to the Transitioning Veterans Program, which connects individuals leaving military service to civilian jobs.

While the Academies of Anchorage—a program that creates areas of career focus at Anchorage’s high schools—has been scaled back from its original design, the WDC is still dedicated to assisting ASD schools with incorporating construction-informed curricula into classroom learning. For instance, Jensen says, the construction industry relies heavily on Microsoft Excel—something ASD educators hadn’t realized. Through collaboration, educators are now looking at including more Excel-based learning into future curricula.

“Our committee’s approach to work-based learning is trying to find ways to get schools to teach students with real world examples of what we do on a day-to-day basis,” Jensen says. “This allows youth to learn our language: ‘cubic yards,’ ‘production rates,’ ‘shifts.’ All this is a way to get them excited about our industry and possibly choose a pathway that leads to the trades.”

Kris Jensen, second from left, and a colleague, at far right, welcomed teachers during an educator/contractor job shadowing day during the Dowling Interchange Project.

The WDC has a lot planned, but it needs people to carry out those plans. An entirely volunteer effort, the WDC currently has more opportunities than it can handle—a sign that Alaska is hungry for more ways to connect job-seekers with opportunities in the construction industry.

“It’s hard to turn away opportunities, but one of our current challenges is to not exhaust the committee members who already do so much,” Jensen says.

He estimates that outside of committee meetings, WDC members will invest more than 400 hours visiting classrooms, collaborating with schools, and presenting to organizations. Though the committee has expanded to establish groups in Fairbanks and the Mat-Su, additional volunteers are needed to build upon the WDC’s success.

At the beginning of each outreach effort the WDC leads, volunteers ask their audiences how many of them are interested in a job in the trades. Roughly 5 percent raise their hands.

“At the end, we ask that same question—and we get about 15 percent,” Jensen says. That shift is one small piece of evidence that the WDC’s efforts are working.

The next step, he adds, is to ensure the industry is ready for the growing workforce: “Now we have to be prepared as an industry to get them trained and working.”