The construction industry continues to experience a skilled worker shortage. The Maryland Department of Labor projects the need for more than 40,000 construction workers by 2026.
Across Maryland and the Greater Washington, DC region, four ABC chapters provide exceptional skills and career training to the next generation of construction craft workers. Even the COVID-19 pandemic hasn’t stopped ABC’s mission of innovative training. To train the safest way possible, chapters embraced virtual learning and hybrid learning models.
All ABC apprenticeship programs meet all federal and state requirements for registered apprenticeship and prevailing wage work, including classroom instruction and employer-sponsored on-the-job training (OJT). Upon successful completion, apprentices are recognized at the journey-worker level in their trade and are awarded their certificate of completion from the Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation (DLLR), Maryland Apprenticeship and Training Council (MATC).
Learn what ABC is doing to get the region working now and into the future:
ABC Metro Washington
ABC of Metro Washington, in Beltsville, Maryland, founded ABC CraftMasters Training Trust (CTT), a separate 501(c)(3) organization, to help its members and the merit shop construction community create a qualified workforce now and into the future. CTT, located in Beltsville, Maryland, offers apprenticeship and construction craft training in multiple trades.
This chapter is also home to the Mid-Atlantic Backflow Academy, which was created in partnership between University of Florida’s TREEO Center and ABC CraftMasters Training Trust.
Federally, the Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974 requires Public Water Systems to keep harmful contaminants and pollutants from entering the water distribution system through cross-connections and backflow. Individual states, regulatory authorities and licensing agencies realize the critical nature of protecting the potable water within their respective jurisdictions and for this reason, Certified Cross Connection Control Professionals are in demand.
From Maine and Ohio to North Carolina and all states in between, the Mid-Atlantic Backflow Academy brings cutting-edge backflow instruction at a centralized, east coast location. The Mid-Atlantic Backflow Academy is the ONLY dedicated partnership backflow facility in the United States.
ABC Chesapeake Shores
ABC Chesapeake Shores runs the Construction Education and Apprenticeship Trust, both located in Annapolis, Maryland. The CEAT offers trade and apprenticeship classes in 21 skilled trades. It also offers C.O.R.E. (Construction Education and Readiness Education)—a 72-hour, 12-week instructional program that covers basic knowledge and skills required in the construction trades. It’s a prerequisite for all construction trade/apprenticeship classes. Classes are offered in both Annapolis and Salisbury, through the chapter’s Salisbury branch location.
ABC Cumberland Valley
Each year more than 100 construction education students, faculty, and staff take advantage of the opportunities offered through the Barr Construction Institute of ABC Cumberland Valley in Hagerstown, Maryland. The chapter opened the training facility in 2006. The Institute provides training and educational programs in management, print reading, safety and health, apprenticeship/craft training, and team building classes.
ABC Greater Baltimore
Despite the pandemic, ABC Greater Baltimore stayed on track to open its new construction training facility in spring 2020. The Construction Education Academy at the Skillforce Center provides unparalleled, state-of-the art training in construction skills and management. It was a project 10 years in the making.
The chapter purposefully located the CEA in downtown Baltimore in an effort to remove one of the social determinants of success—access to quality education. The CEA provides access to trades education and apprenticeship programs to inner city men and women interested in construction. The CEA offers state-approved apprenticeship training in 16 different trades, as well as management education courses and a CEO bootcamp for small business owners.
It’s also home to Project JumpStart, a collaborative partnership between ABC Baltimore and the Job Opportunities Task Force (JOTF).