Among the most prevalent trends in the home building industry is a push to get vocational and technical trades back into high schools. And, even more than that, to educate parents and students that construction jobs are high paying, valid career choices. Students can enter the work force after skills training or a two-year technical school without tens of thousands of dollars of college debt.

Denim Marketing is fortunate to be able to help with this educational process. We recently worked with the Home Builders Association of South Carolina and the Associated Industries of S.C. to create a marketing brochure for their new Be Pro Be Proud S.C. program.

We wrote the copy for the marketing brochure, as well as collaborated with our design partner Dina Gundersen at Creative Thunder on the design of the piece. You’ll notice the piece features the state of South Carolina’s colors and a fun design with photos of students working in the trades.

Mark Nix, Executive Officer with the Home Builders Association of South Carolina, said, “Working with Carol and the team at Denim Marketing made this project super easy. They understood our goals for the piece from the beginning, and the end result is fantastic.”

The goal of Be Pro Be Proud S.C. is to educate all South Carolinians on the benefits and careers in the skilled trades. Be Pro Be Proud SC is a unique private/public partnership designed to create and generate student, parent and educator interest in technical professions within the manufacturing, trucking and construction industries by presenting them as high-tech, high-wage career paths.

Be Pro Be Proud’s flagship mobile workshop is housed in a tractor trailer that will travel from school to school introducing middle and high school students to  up to 12 skilled professions. Students will learn job responsibilities and the average wage for each career while learning more about each career workforce via simulators and virtual reality.

The goal is to engage with 50,000 students the first year of the program. We can’t wait to see South Carolina take Be Pro Be Proud on the road!

Recent statistics from the 2018 Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment Statistics Survey data show that half of payroll workers in construction earn more than $47,290 and the top 25% make at least $66,290. In comparison, the U.S. median wage is $38,640, while the top 25% makes at least $62,510.

According to this same data, the National Association of Home Builders reports that year-over-year, median wages in construction outpaced the national median wages, 3.2% vs 2.5%. Wages of various construction trades, laborers and helpers rose even faster, ranging from about 7% for plasterers, stucco masons, roofers’ helpers, tapers and floor layers to 3.6% for construction laborers. Stonemasons saw their wages rise by more than 6% and terrazzo workers received wage hikes of more than 5%.

Among construction trades, elevator installers top the median wages list with half of them earning over $78,990 a year, and the top 25% making at least $100,720. The median wages for rotary drill operators is close to $70,000, with the top quartile of the pay scale earning over $77,610 annually. First-line supervisors of construction trades are next on the list, with half of them making over $64,600. Boilermakers are a close fourth-highest paid construction craft. Half of these craftsmen working in construction earn over $64,480, and the highest paid 25% bring in over $78,250.

With programs like Be Pro Be Proud S.C., we hope that we will have a new generation of workers entering the home building industry with a strong tool belt of skills!

For more information on Denim Marketing and working with us on your next sponsorship or marketing brochure, call 770-383-3360 x20 or Contact Us here.