Deborah Rosen is the executive director of the University of Rhode Island Transportation Center. Created by Congress, the center studies transportation issues and hosts a number of events related to the transportation construction trade.
PBN: Can you talk about the function of the URI Transportation Center?
ROSEN: The University of Rhode Island Transportation Center was established in 1999 to conduct multidisciplinary research, education, technology transfer and outreach. We are one of 66 university transportation centers authorized under federal legislation in the SAFETEA-LU transportation bill. The center supports research on sustainable transportation systems as well as safety-related projects. A major component of our education, technology transfer and outreach activities could be classified as promoting work force development for the transportation sector. In this capacity, the center manages the Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP), whose mission is to foster a safe, efficient and environmentally sound surface transportation system by improving skills and increasing knowledge of the transportation work force. LTAP is the primary way that the Federal Highway Administration helps local transportation agencies learn about maintaining and improving their roads, through training employees in innovative methods.
To recruit the transportation work force of tomorrow we manage the Rhode Island Construction Career Days event each year and also provide national leadership for these events through the National Construction Career Day Center. We also run Engineering Career Day at URI and summer camps for middle and high school students to acquaint them with the job opportunities in the transportation sector. These camps attempt to cover the broad spectrum of transportation job opportunities from blue collar employment to engineers and business transportation specialists. In addition, we sponsor several transportation-related competitions for middle school students each year.
For all of these activities our partners and sponsors are Federal Highway Administration and the R.I. Department of Transportation.
PBN: Your center recently hosted a career day for high school students interested in entering the transportation construction trade. Can you talk about the event and what motivated students to attend?
ROSEN: The center has been managing the Rhode Island Construction Career Days event since 2001. Led by Jeff Cathcart, the center developed a strong reputation for the quality of our career day events and has been managing the National Construction Career Days Center for the Federal Highway Administration since 2005. The appeal of these events is the opportunity for high school students to interact not only with construction-industry representations, but also to have a hands-on experience with many of the tools of the trade including heavy equipment. Over the years, Jeff has developed strong working relationships with many Rhode Island high school instructors and guidance counselors, which helps in the recruiting of students who would be most interested in attending these events. In an average year, approximately 1,200 attend this event over a two-day period.
PBN: Employment in the construction industry has dipped since the beginning of the recession. Is the transportation construction sector doing any better?
ROSEN: The construction sector is not doing any better than the economy overall. In Rhode Island, construction employment has decreased approximately 10 percent over the same period last year. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 will have some impact on construction-sector employment, but this will probably only lead to reducing the slide rather than an overall increase in construction-sector employment [compared with] 2008. Having said that, it is estimated that the construction trades will experience the largest boost to employment (11 percent) of any industry benefiting from the federal stimulus package. It should also be noted that the transportation portion of the federal stimulus package will not only impact construction-sector employment. It will also have a positive impact on industries which support transportation sector construction projects as well as impacting the goods and services sector where these “new” construction employees will spend their money. In actuality the Congressional Research Service estimates that 50 percent of the jobs created from the transportation portion of the Federal stimulus package will actually occur in jobs dependent on consumer expenditures from the wages of these “new” workers.
PBN: As the federal stimulus pumps money into public works projects what impact has it had on Rhode Island transportation projects?
ROSEN: The stimulus money for transportation infrastructure, while significant, will not address a fundamental long-term flaw in Rhode Island’s way of funding transportation needs. Rhode Island transportation infrastructure needs, on an annual basis, run somewhere between $250 million and $350 million depending on the year and who you ask. The transportation portion of the federal stimulus package Rhode Island is eligible to receive is only $137 million. Obviously, this one-time boost to transportation projects does not come close to addressing ongoing needs. R.I. Department of Transportation anticipates that it will launch 54 road and bridge projects over the term of the federal stimulus package. My concern is that people will now turn away from dealing with the long-term problem transportation finance problem because we received a one-time boost.
PBN: What can those looking for a job in the transportation construction industry do to improve their chances?
ROSEN: To a large degree, improving your chances of getting hired does not vary by industry. Most people do not find jobs today through the want ads. It is more about who you know and how you quickly you demonstrate what you know. Learning how to network, therefore, is of paramount importance so attend industry events and job fairs. Get comfortable talking about the qualities you bring to a job opportunity. Talk to people you know; you never know when they will have a connection to a company you are interested in contacting. Taking advantage of electronic job boards is becoming increasingly important as well. Employers see this as a way to broaden their applicant pool.
It is also important to be prepared – know what skills the employers will be looking for and make sure you have the right skill set and can clearly demonstrate this in an application or resume and/or can articulate these points in an interview. In the construction industry, many of the jobs require apprenticeships. If you are interested in a particular trade, find out if this is so. If you have a personal contact with someone currently in the union, ask his or her help in walking you through this process. If you do not know anyone in the particular union, contact the union office to find out what steps you need to take to join its apprenticeship program.
If you are a student now, do internships or find summer jobs in the industry or industries in which you have an interest. Internships and summer jobs are important ways to learn what you do or do not want to do when you finish school. Some, but not all, internships lead to permanent employment. It is not just construction or engineering companies that have internship opportunities, the R.I. Department of Transportation has a very strong internship program as well. Specific to the transportation construction sector – if you are a high school student and your school does not participate in the Rhode Island Construction Career Days (held each May during Transportation Week), check out our Web site for information on this event (http://www.uritc.org/ccd/) or other programs that we offer.
