There’s a void of over 65,000 construction trade jobs which need to be filled in the Greater Cincinnati area, per Brian Miller, executive vice president of the Building Industry Association of Northern Kentucky. The Kenton County Fiscal Court recently took steps to help bridge that gap.
Last Tuesday, the Kenton County Fiscal Court agreed to provide approximately $3.5 million worth of American Rescue Plan Act dollars to the Enzweiler Building Institute, or EBI, to fund skilled jobs training for up to 640 individuals.
This includes 240 students who are attending Kenton County public and private schools, as well as 400 adults. There are two EBI campuses in Kenton County: Erlanger and Covington.
“Partnering with the Enzweiler Building Institute to build our skilled trades workforce will address a significant need in the community, while helping 640 Kenton County residents individually elevate their skill sets and long-term earning potential,” Kenton County Judge/Executive Kris Knochelmann said in a release.
The money from the Fiscal Court will help create new 13-week courses for the program’s curriculum, including electric, plumbing, heating, ventilation and air conditioning, carpentry, welding, facilities maintenance and remodeling.
The courses are slated to begin on Sept. 18, 2023 and will be held between 3 and 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Additionally, the EBI will use a portion of the funding to offset the salaries of the tradespeople to teach the class as professional instructors.
High school students in Kenton County can receive up to four credit hours toward their high school diplomas with the opportunity to work in a traditional or co-op program during their senior year.
“We are excited about this amazing opportunity to introduce Kenton County residents to the skilled construction trades,” Miller said in a press release. “As we have been experiencing accelerated increases in construction wages, coupled with what seems an insurmountable challenge to fill the industry’s workforce impacted by the pandemic, this is an outstanding opportunity for those in Kenton County to establish a lifelong career with rewarding living wages.”
The Fiscal Court also approved over $400,000 of operational and gap financing to the institute. This will help them complete construction on their 10,500-square-foot Covington campus inside the revamped Latonia Commerce Center.
Construction began on the trade school began last September. Costs for the project were estimated to be around $1.3 million. A public unveiling was hosted at the campus in February.
The City of Covington believed the campus would help target chronic unemployment in the city’s workforce and improve accessibility to skilled labor training for the city’s urban residents, according to a December 2021 press release.
Classes officially began this January. They run from 6 to 9 p.m. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Most courses can be attended two nights a week, while some accelerated options are available.
The news comes on the heels of EBI hosting two free job fairs for prospective trade workers.