HAGATNA, Guam (Pacific Daily News, March 28, 2011) – A wave of buildup construction on Guam offers an opportunity for ambitious jobseekers to transform from novices to journeymen in a few short years.

Last week, the Navy announced that nine buildup construction projects, totaling about $1 billion, could move forward in the areas of Finegayan, Apra Harbor and Andersen Air Force Base. At least some of the physical work will start this year.

And it's not too late for jobseekers to be a part of those projects.

Someone with no construction skills still has enough time to gain the training to become a construction apprentice just as many of these buildup projects begin. An apprentice is an employee who is half-worker and half-student, on a fast track to a potentially lucrative career.

Brandon Chandler, 22, is halfway there, and his timing couldn't be better.

"That's exactly what I want to do," Chandler said. "I want to be on the wave when it comes in."

Chandler has been working for TG Engineers for about three years, and has been taking free night classes as a land survey apprentice for about two years. At first, surveying was just a day job, but since he started training as an apprentice, his pay has increased and he has climbed the ladder from a survey rookie to a crew manager.

Now Chandler is poised to finish his apprenticeship just as the wave of buildup work breaks on Guam's shores. He has seen the increase in federal contracts and he knows the buildup will bring more projects, more experience and -- ultimately -- more money his way.

"That wasn't my goal initially," Chandler said yesterday. "I was just doing this to work for a while. Then I started picking it up. ... But after a while, it opened up opportunities and I just kept doing it."

New jobs

During the buildup construction's peak, tens of thousands of new jobs are expected to open up in Guam over several years, according to previously stated military estimates.

"If the buildup continues, and if these different projects continue, over the next five, six, seven, or eight years of work, for certain, if someone became an apprentice right now, midway or slightly after the midpoint of this buildup, they would be hitting their journeyman," said Reilly Ridgell, Guam Community College's dean of Trades and Professional Services.

Once a journeyman, Ridgell said, "you can go anywhere and get a job, and there are certain wages they have to pay you. ... It's your ticket to work."

A roadmap to journeyman status breaks down to three steps:

•First, a complete novice learns the basics of the construction field, which can be done at the Guam Trades Academy or a semi-skilled worker program at Guam Community College;

•Second, a job seeker, who now has basic knowledge of construction, finds a job as an interned apprentice with one of the construction companies being hired for buildup projects; and

•Third, an apprentice works days on a buildup construction project and spends nights in GovGuam-funded classes, finally becoming a journeyman in three to five years.

With billions of dollars of construction work on the horizon, and millions of dollars of maintenance work to follow, odds are improving for Guam workers who take the effort to gain the needed skills.

"The only ingredient that is missing is people who are interested," said Bert Johnston, the education director of the Guam Contractors Association's Trades Academy. "They've got to be interested, or they are wasting their resources and our resources."

Starter classes

It isn't very likely that a complete novice will be hired for an apprentice job. Basic knowledge of the construction field is needed, and both the Trades Academy and Guam Community College offer programs that provide this.

The first option is faster. The second is free, if you qualify.

An interested person can walk into the Trades Academy office any day of the week, fill out an application and find themselves in classes within about 10 days, Johnston said.

The four-and-a-half month core curriculum costs about $1,200, he said. Classes teach students a little of everything so they can choose the construction field that interests them. Classes are held at night so students can still work a day job, Johnston said.

Guam Community College offers an alternative to the Trades Academy's core curriculum -- a three-month semi-skilled laborer program, but classes don't start as frequently and aren't open to just anyone.

The GCC program is funded through a congressional grant. That means it's free, but it's not always available. Applicants also must be unemployed to qualify.

Currently, the community college is seeking more federal funds for the program, GCC spokeswoman Jayne Flores said, so there aren't any classes for applicants to enroll in now. If GCC receives more funding, a new class could start in the second half of this year.

Both the Trades Academy's core curriculum and the GCC semi-skilled worker program offer a pathway for jobseekers to be more qualified applicants.

Apprenticeship

With the basic skills learned at GCC or the Trades Academy, a jobseeker's next step is to apply for an apprentice job with a local company.

These apprenticeship positions aren't always easy to come by, but as buildup work begins to roll, construction companies should be looking to hire more apprentices, Ridgell said.

An apprentice works under the guidance of a more experienced employee. The apprentice also continues to learn at GCC or the Trades Academy at night, although he or she no longer has to pay for the classes.

Instead, the classes can be paid for by the Manpower Development Fund, a government of Guam account that collects fees from construction companies that bring in temporary foreign workers.

The deal gets sweeter for employers too, said James Martinez, president of the Guam Contractors Association.

Any time a contractor hires an apprentice, half of that employee's salary can be applied to a Gross Receipts Tax credit. A similar credit can be applied to the salary of a journeyman for the hours he spends teaching an apprentice, Martinez said.

Journeyman

Depending on what field an apprentice chooses, he or she can become a journeyman within three to five years through either the Trades Academy or GCC.

Unless the military's plan for the buildup is disrupted, the construction that will start soon is expected to last at least several years.

And even when the construction ends, the work won't.

"When it's done, somebody has to maintain these projects," Johnston said. "If you were the one who built it, you are familiar in ways others aren't, which is something no one else has. It makes you specially qualified for that job."

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