​The Highway Construction Careers Training Program (HCCTP) at Dawson Technical Institute, created through a collaboration between The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) and the Illinois Community College Board (ICCB), addresses the under representation of women and minorities in the highway construction industry.  Two program cohorts received completion certificates Friday, May 18 during a recognition ceremony held at the Parrot Cage Restaurant located in the South Shore Cultural Center at 7059 S. South Shore Drive.

Group Graduation Shot

William Godwin, Exec. Dir. of Workforce Partnership- CCC, Marva Boyd, Chief of Staff- IDOT, Shoshiwa  Mabina, Program Coordinator- DTI, Selom Assignon, Dean-DTI, Antionette Mitchell, EEO Officer- FH Paschen , John Horak, Assoc. Coordinator-Carpenter’s Union, SN Nielsen, Frank McNeil, Director, Office of Business and Workforce Diversity- IDOT,  Tod Rowe, HCCTP Dir.- ICCB

Benjamin Avery, owner of Avery & Pryor Construction LLC a Union Cement Masonry Sub Contractor, hired three graduates in Cement Mason positions this week and is sponsoring HCCTP pre-apprentices into the Cement Masonry Union for IDOT projects.  Brandon Lee, Marcus Lee, and Dennis Green expect to start their new positions this summer.

Based on DTI’s construction industry relationships, students benefit from other training opportunities. Sabryna-Joi King Bell and Kimberly Rucker are two of three HCCTP female graduates accepted into the highly competitive Turner School of Construction Management program. Women represent about 10 percent of the construction industry’s labor force according to the National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER), Build Your Future.  Both plan to change that statistic by launching their own construction businesses.