S.M. Wilson & Co. continues its support of Construction Careers Center (CCC), a charter high school founded in September 2001 by the Associated General Contractors of St. Louis (AGC-St. Louis).
Scott Wilson, CEO of S.M. Wilson, works one-on-one with students at CCC in a mentoring role, and through internship opportunities he provides students with hands-on-experience.
“We take pride in building the future of our community,” Wilson said.
For over 20 years, S.M. Wilson has been an active member of the AGC-St. Louis. The AGC-St. Louis represents over 400 commercial, industrial, heavy and highway contractors, industry partners and related firms in St. Louis City and County as well as the metropolitan counties of St. Charles, Franklin, Lincoln, Jefferson and Warren and 16 additional counties along the eastern Missouri border.
The following AGC-STL contractor members have served as past and present CCC Board members: Nicole Adewale of ABNA Engineering, Paul Shaughnessy of BSI Constructors, Zachary Hamilton of Kwame Building Group, Inc., John Costello of CK Power, Chris Nisbet of McCarthy Building Companies, Ron Unterreiner of Rhodey Construction, Inc., and Tripp Zumwalt of Zumwalt Corporation.
In 2009, Scott Wilson served as chairman on the AGC-STL Board of Directors. As chairman, Wilson was instrumental in the formation of a diversity and inclusion department within the AGC-STL.
“Scott was a one-man campaign who pled the case internally and was successful,” Leonard Toenjes, president of AGC-STL, said of the diversity and inclusion department. Steve Lewis serves as vice president of diversity initiatives for the association.
“That has helped us focus more aggressively on the issues that need to be addressed in the industry in that regard,” Toenjes said.
Those “issues” that needed to be addressed stemmed from a construction industry that lacked skilled diverse trade workers.
“There are not a lot of young people at any school – whether you’re in Soldan or St. Charles High School – who really look at construction as the first career of choice,” Toenjes said.
That void is being filled, to some extent, by institutions like the Construction Careers Center, he said. Of 57 graduates from CCC, 47 percent enrolled in continuing education and 44 percent are employed in industry-related careers, according to AGC-STL’s 2012 annual report.
In December 2010, Brian Cox, CCC Class of 2006, became the first alumnus to graduate from a four-year university, earning a bachelor’s degree in construction management from SIUE. While earning his degree, Cox interned at construction firms including ABNA Engineering, SM Wilson and Cissell-Mueller, as well as MODOT.
“The CCC is a great program,” Cox said. “I wanted to be in construction since I was a little kid, and the program was a great building block in preparing me for the next level of education.”
“It’s a very positive situation for all involved,” Toenjes said.
“Filling the shortages in the local construction workforce is good for the economy, diversifying the workforce is good for the community, and providing the foundation for a future career for these kids is the biggest win of all.”
The collaboration also extends outside of the school walls to other forms of mentoring, with the intervention of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Missouri.
Mark Winschel, director of business development for S.M. Wilson & Co., said the firm and its employees have been supporting Big Brothers Big Sisters through the Construction Careers Center since its inception.
“Over the years, 21 S.M. Wilson employees have been ‘Bigs’ through CCC,” Winschel said.
