FORGE brings resources for construction leaders with Summit
STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) – The construction industry is taking center stage at a business expo in Starkville.
FORGE is hosting its third annual Construction Leadership Summit at the Mill Conference Center.
The 3rd annual Leadership Summit gathers more than 400 construction professionals and workforce partners together to strengthen the future of the construction industry in our area.
FORGE is a community organization dedicated to promoting skilled trades and advancing career readiness across Mississippi.
Executive Director, Melinda Lowe, said the event is a great opportunity to make productive connections with the partners involved.
“FORGE can’t do what it does without the support of our industry partners,” Lowe said. “We have to be able to make connections, make partnerships out in the community with these different businesses because we need to understand what they need and how we can excite the students coming into the world of skills trades.”
Speakers are sharing their construction knowledge. The event allows attendees to network, build leadership, and develop the workforce.
“We work with students of all ages to just to not only share the different career pathways that are out there for them in skill trades, but with that exposure, we want to give them hands-on opportunities,” Lowe said. “So, this is our way to partner, network, and get to know each other so that we can all work on this workforce pipeline together.”
There were also hands-on simulations available.
Workshop leader Adam Hoots said it is essential to have events like this to bring in more people in the industry.
“People say out of 5 to 1, there are people leaving versus coming into the industry, so we are losing people at a rapid rate, and we’ve got to do construction differently,” Hoots said. “So, there are some things that we want to challenge intuition, work in small batches for things as we go and things like cause construction, we don’t currently do very well, so we are here to change the mindset.”
The Summit also brought in a Leadership Workshop to display team performance, communication, and leadership skills.
This year’s Summit and workshop drew sell-out crowds.
