ATLANTA,None — Channel 2's Jim Strickland found a rare sign of optimism for Georgia's construction industry.
Despite a new report that the state lost nearly 20,000 construction jobs in a year, thousands of young laborers are determined to get their shot on the job site.
"I've been doing it a few years now and I really like it," said 18-year-old Valora Kitchens of Cedartown as she hammered away at a miniature home under construction.
She's one of nearly 5,000 Georgia high schoolers being groomed for careers in construction.
Channel 2's camera covered six football fields worth of square footage, to shoot a huge competition to find the best young tradespeople.
Construction Education Foundation of Georgia says a large portion of the state's skilled building workforce is getting ready to hang up the hammer.
"Half of our industry will be retiring in five to 10 years. We need to fill that pipeline with new, young talent and that's what this event is all about," said Scott Shelar, executive director of the CEFGA.
"Doing this job, you'll always have a job because you need wires in every house and electricity in every house," said Atlanta high school senior Chelsea Ingram, as she prepared to start a residential wring contest.
The competition comes as a new report from the Associated General Contractors of America reveals Georgia lost 19,800 construction jobs between January 2010 and this year.
Shelar said the advantage is jobs that do come open will go to a home-grown labor pool.
"It's just a general clamping down on illegal immigration, and that's going to have an impact on the construction industry," he said.
The young people Strickland met said they pay attention to details of the job, rather than to the politics involved in getting a job.
"I know I can do it better than somebody else can, and I'm going to work hard. It's not going to die out completely because people have no money," said high school senior Michael Studdard.
WSBTV
