Students' doghouses to adorn home show

SPRINGDALE -- Brenda Jones hopes doghouses are the first step in creating the next generation of homebuilders.

Thirty area students built the doghouses being raffled at this year's Home & Tech Show at the Northwest Arkansas Convention Center in Springdale, said Jones, executive officer of the Northwest Arkansas Home Builders Association.

The houses are a project of the newly formed NWA Future Builders, a student chapter of the local association that started in September. Most student homebuilders associations are formed at the college level, Jones said, adding that she wanted to reach students sooner.

"If we start with them now, at a young age, they can take this with them into college," she said. "Plus the doghouses add a new element to the home show that brings energy and keeps the event fun and fresh."

This year's show includes 106 vendors ranging from cookware and yard art to storm shelters and countertops. Jones anticipates about 4,000 people will work their way through the three-day event.

Attendees can vote for their favorite doghouse and buy $1 raffle tickets for the chance to win one of the projects. Raffle proceeds benefit local humane societies and the NWA Future Builders.

Jones said she is also working with all Northwest Arkansas high schools to get trade and construction classes started that are geared toward students who may not attend college.

"Some businesses have trouble finding skilled labor," she said. "We want to get the kids involved."

Construction employment in Benton and Washington counties was 7,369 in 2013, down from a pre-recession high of 11,162 in 2006, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The federal bureau classifies a wide range of jobs in its construction category, including civil engineering, building foundation and roofing.

Associated General Contractors of America reports construction firms nationally added 39,000 jobs last month, taking employment to 6.3 million. This is the highest construction employment level since 2009. Association officials said the job gain comes as most construction firms plan to expand this year, but worry about growing shortages of qualified workers.

"Construction firms appear ready to add jobs this year at the fastest rate in a decade," Stephen Sandherr, the association's chief executive officer, said in a news release. "But those employment gains depend on finding new ways to expose and prepare high school students for high-paying careers in construction."

Ryan Cook, pre-engineering teacher at Prairie Grove High School, took a group of 22 students to Friday's home show. The students are all part of the school's Project Lead the Way program. The Prairie Grove School District received a $84,000 grant from the state in 2012 to start a pre-engineering program. About 100 students are part of the program.

"I was hoping the kids would get a chance to see some things we've talked about in class but that they didn't get any experience with," Cook said.

Samuel Webb and Megan Reynolds are both Prairie Grove juniors who have been in the program since its inception.

"When it started, it seemed different and something with a good job outlook," Reynolds said. "It is unlike any other class I've taken."

Webb said the classwork is challenging, but he enjoys it. Students learn through hands-on, project-based challenges.

"You have to come ready to work," he said. "It's my favorite class since I started school."

Business on 02/14/2015