Image is Everything — Build Up Kansas Gives CTE a New Look

Around the beginning of 2018, Ben Hutton, a board member of Associated General Contractors (AGC) Kansas and owner of Hutton Construction in Wichita, KS, came before the AGC of Kansas Board of Directors to see if they could answer a question and help solve a problem. 

Hutton commented that AGC of Kansas had developed a good infrastructure for high school career and technical education (CTE) training, but students weren’t taking the next step to apply for job openings. Hutton asked the AGC of Kansas Board if they knew why. That question and the thought it generated was the impetus for creating the Build Up Kansas program. 

“Ben Hutton’s question and the AGC of Kansas’ Board of Director’s vision and action is the reason we started Build Up Kansas,” said Mike Gibson, AGC’s Executive Vice President. 

AGC of Kansas’ Board and Gibson agreed that the construction industry had an image problem and that had led to a workforce supply problem. The industry was unable to get the necessary talent into the workforce pipeline. 

Having spent 30 years with AGC and the past 13 with AGC Kansas, Gibson was knowledgeable about the inner dynamics of educating and staffing personnel for the construction industry. 

“My whole career has been centered around workforce development,” said Gibson. 

The Image Campaign 

At the direction of the AGC of Kansas Board, Gibson got to work with his staff that year and put together a multi-pronged approach to tackle the problem. The first step was hiring a marketing company to create a campaign to generate excitement and visibility for AGC and workforce development. Seven firms were interviewed. The firm that was hired came up with the name and the logo of Build Up Kansas. 

Simultaneously, Gibson suggested updates be made on AGC’s technology side. A new website was created that incorporated an HR Platform for free job postings by AGC members for CTE students to submit CTE credentials and resumes to showcase their talent. Also, the use of social media was implemented to target the 17- to 22-year-old demographic, as well as minorities and parents. 

Gibson also emphasized the need to promote the established training curriculum from the National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER). 

In the early days of the mid-2000’s, the charge of the AGC board was to have their education director go out to the education community and get NCCER into the schools. This effort was done in a limited fashion based on available resources.

“We had about 20 to 25 schools using NCCER back in the early 2000’s,” Gibson said. 

Gibson thought it imperative to expand NCCER’s reach and implement it in more high schools, community colleges and vocational tech schools across Kansas. 

The Right Timing

After two years, the Build Up Kansas program had made inroads in the state, but it wasn’t until 2021 when a series of timely events launched the program into overdrive. 

“All of a sudden Build Up Kansas exploded and it really took a new turn,” said Gibson. 

In 2021, Panasonic announced that they would be building a $5 billion lithium-ion battery manufacturing facility in De Soto, Kansas, just outside of Kansas City, with the expectation to create up to 4,000 full-time jobs after completion. 

Prior to the Panasonic announcement, Gibson had received a call from the Kansas Lieutenant Governor and the Chair of the Legislative House Commerce Committee in Kansas. The Lieutenant Governor didn’t mention the name of the company, but alluded that a Fortune 500 company had a multi-billion-dollar opportunity coming to Kansas. They would need 13,000 construction workers on the project. 

“Do you think we can deliver on that?“ the House Commerce Committee Chair and Lieutenant Governor asked. 

“I think we can do it, but if you’re looking to sustain workforce needs for future economic development opportunities we’ve got to accelerate bringing CTE training back,” Gibson responded. 

College All-Nighter  

On a cold winter’s night in 2021, Gibson was on his way home to Wichita after a long legislative day in Topeka, when he got a call on his cell phone. It was the Lieutenant Governor and House Commerce Committee Chair. Both praised Gibson for the work that AGC of Kansas and his staff had done, while working with a shoestring budget, to grow CTE and workforce development in the state. 

The Lieutenant Governor and House Commerce Committee Chair told Gibson that the state would like to provide funding for AGC of Kansas and its Build Up Kansas program, allowing it to prioritize its mission of bringing back CTE programming to all 298 high schools and community colleges across the state for students and incumbent workers. The Lieutenant Governor and House Commerce Committee Chair then asked Gibson if he would provide a budget proposal. 

“I said, ‘When do you need it?’ He said, ‘I need it by 6:30 in the morning.’ Then the Lieutenant Governor asked, ‘Where are you at?’ I said, ‘I’m about an hour out of Wichita.’ And it was about 11:00 at night,” said Gibson. 

“I pulled a college all-nighter and put together the budget and gave it to my lobbyist. He gave it to the House Commerce Committee Chair, who introduced it into the House Appropriations that morning at 9:00 a.m. I watched on my laptop as it passed unanimously and was approved,” said Gibson. “That’s how fast we got things done.” 

Preparation Pays Off

150 schools across the state now offer CTE training. Through Gibson’s lobbying efforts with the state, nearly $12 million in state money has been added to help the Build Up Kansas campaign. 

“We still have a lot to accomplish. We’re at 9,000 to 10,000 students enrolled in trade programs across the state. Three years ago, only 2,500 students were in the construction trade programs in Kansas. This semester alone, we have surpassed 80,000 industry-recognized NCCER credentials for students in CTE programming,” said Gibson. 

“AGC’s goal is to have 25,000 students in construction trade programs within the next couple of years. Can we get there? I don’t know. I think we have a great product to sell. Kansas will need nearly 58,000 new construction workers to meet market demand over the next 5 to 6 years. We have a large cross section of young women, men and minorities that are looking for opportunities across the state. If you don’t shoot high, you never know.”

Reaching Out 

When Build Up Kansas was launched, marketing companies that were hired told AGC that the way to get the younger generation’s attention is to focus on a target audience of 17- to 22-year-olds and do so through social media.  Targeted social media campaigns have created over 2 million landing page visits to the Build Up Kansas platform. 

“In addition, we’ve had numerous CTE instructors at teacher-parent nights that have utilized Build Up Kansas and its website. The instructors would tell the parents, ‘This is why your son or daughter are in my program,’” said Gibson. “The parents are also finding out about the opportunities in the construction industry and telling their friends, thus expanding our reach through the Build Up Kansas website.” 

“This year [2024] was an election year. AGC matured and broadened its reach to attract the attention of parents and politicians. A large billboard campaign was created with nearly 40 billboards across the state,” elaborated Gibson. “We did it to say thank you to our political partners, letting them know that we appreciate what they’ve done by providing AGC of Kansas resources to make CTE a major priority in Kansas.” 

“Of the 40 billboards, about eight or nine were electronic billboards. To measure their reach, the boards can measure pings off nearby passing cell phones. This is how they count reach.” 

From the beginning of July and into early August, analytics had tallied 1.2 million pings from billboards in Eastern Wichita alone. 

Starting Somewhere 

It had taken several years, but AGC Kansas has come full circle and answered Hutton’s vexing question on how to get young people interested in the construction industry. 

“My message to other groups is, ‘If you’ve got to start somewhere, start small. You’re not going to solve everything at one time,’” said Gibson. “This particular program for AGC of Kansas and Build Up Kansas is probably the biggest and most exciting thing I’ve been associated with in addressing our industry’s image and workforce challenges.”