Endowment Grant Geared to Help Students Enter Workforce with Professional Designations

WASHINGTON, June 12 – The National Housing Endowment (NHE) has awarded an $82,784 grant to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and the Home Builders Institute (HBI) to create a program that will provide professional designations to students graduating with residential construction management degrees.

"Through grants such as this, the National Housing Endowment works to help the residential construction industry develop more effective approaches to home building and to ensure there is an ample and well-trained supply of future workers and leaders," said Endowment Chairman F. Gary Garczynski, 2002 NAHB president and a home builder from Woodbridge, Va.

The programs will be modeled after a 2008 joint effort with Purdue University that was created through an NHE Homebuilding Education Leadership Program (HELP) grant. NAHB and HBI worked with the university's residential construction management program faculty to integrate NAHB/ HBI course content into existing university curriculum that would then qualify participating students to earn a Certified Green Professional (CGP), Certified Aging-in-Place Specialist (CAPS), or a Residential Construction Superintendent (RCS) designation upon graduation. Eight Purdue University students are slated to earn a professional designation in 2009.

M. M. "Mike" Weiss, GMR, GMB, CAPS, ARCS, chairman of HBI and a home builder from Carmel, Ind., said, "By enabling graduates to enter the workforce with an NAHB professional designation, we are nurturing the future of our industry and providing these students with a competitive advantage for highly sought-after jobs in the housing sector."

The grant funds will be used to create a similar program at universities that offer housing industry-related degrees and maintain an active NAHB Student Chapter. They will help cover a portion of the fees for students enrolling in the program and expenses for faculty to participate in NAHB's Train the Trainer course.

"These students will improve their skills through on-the-job experience and build relationships with local home building industry professionals prior to entering the workforce," said Benjamin Graham, GMB, chair of NAHB's education committee and a home builder from Middleburg, Va. "Potential employers will also recognize their commitment to a career in the industry and to continued professional growth."

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About the National Housing Endowment: The National Housing Endowment, established in 1987 by the National Association of Home Builders, will help the industry develop more effective approaches to home building, enhance the ways we educate and train future generations of leaders in residential construction and increase the body of knowledge on housing issues. We will do so by supporting innovate and effective programs that further education, training and research. The cornerstone of National Housing Endowment's education program is the Homebuilding Education Leadership Program (HELP) which is a long-term commitment to award seed grants to leading two- and four-year colleges and universities to help them create, expand, or enhance existing residential construction management programs or develop new programs in that academic area. For more information about the National Housing Endowment, please visit the National Housing Endowment Web site at www.nationalhousingendowment.org.

About NAHB: The National Association of Home Builders is a Washington, D.C.-based trade association representing more than 200,000 members involved in home building, remodeling, multifamily construction, property management, subcontracting, design, housing finance, building product manufacturing and other aspects of residential and light commercial construction. Known as "the voice of the housing industry," NAHB is affiliated with more than 800 state and local home builders associations around the country. NAHB's builder members will construct about 80 percent of the new housing units projected for 2009.

About HBI: Home Builders Institute, the workforce development arm of the 200,000-member National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), provides trades training and job placement in the residential construction industry, promotes the industry as a career and helps address its workforce needs through programs and resources and improves the quality of craft education. HBI operates more than 100 trades training and continuing education programs across the country and more than 3,000 students annually receive an industry sponsored certification or designation from the Institute.

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