Upton, MA – The Associated General Contractors of Massachusetts (AGC MA) is once again providing an eight-week ACE (architecture/construction/engineering) program at Blackstone Valley Regional Vocational Technical High School in Upton.
The program, an AGC MA workforce development initiative, is designed to enhance skills and support opportunity for students interested in pursuing careers in construction. As part of the program’s curriculum, leaders from three AGC MA member firms – Jeff Cammuso of Shawmut Design and Construction, Kimberly Joyce of Colantonio, and Kerri Noble and Alex Toth of Consigli – are leading sessions as ACE mentors and sharing their experiences and expertise with students.
Blackstone Valley Tech students in the AGC MA ACE program created 3-foot foam board beams in various structural shapes and sizes. Using engineering fundamentals, they predicted how each structural shape would perform when loaded to failure at midspan.
“This invaluable partnership provides our students with exposure to a host of professional career paths and allows them to explore facets of the construction sector that they might otherwise have never considered,” said Thomas Belland, vocational director at Blackstone Valley Tech. “We are thrilled to welcome AGC MA and its member organizations back to our school for their fourth year of providing ACE support.”
AGC MA’s partnership with Blackstone Valley Tech is part of a larger initiative to increase awareness by young people of career opportunities in construction.
“Today’s construction industry offers a wide range of well-paying professional opportunities, from building job sitework to technical and administrative roles,” said John Ferrante, CEO of AGC MA. “Exposing talented young people like the students at Blackstone Valley Tech to the many lucrative and rewarding career paths in construction is essential to the future health and growth of the industry and to the economy as a whole.”
