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For the Associated General Contractors (AGC) of America, National �鶹��ý����ion Appreciation Week is an opportunity to highlight how great it is to have a career in the industry.

The week, which runs from Sept. 18 to 22, celebrates the dedicated, hardworking men and women in construction and is an opportunity to promote the industry and its workforce as well as spread information on viable careers to help build the future workforce.

“It’s certainly something that we support and many of our chapters and members engage in,” said Brian Turmail, vice-president of public affairs and strategic initiatives with AGC of America. “I think it ties into one of the biggest concerns and one of our biggest priorities which is really trying to improve the image of the construction industry so that it becomes easier for firms to recruit and more tempting for future workers to pursue careers in construction.”

Over the last 30 or 40 years, the mentality has shifted and a lot of people believe everyone needs to go to college and work at an office job.

“We’ve kind of begun to devalue careers in fields like construction despite the fact that they pay really well and offer an enormous amount of satisfaction,” Turmail explained. “This is one of those organic, industry-wide efforts to recapture the narrative and remind people just how cool careers in construction are and how fundamental what our members build is to everything in the economy.”

AGC of America firms and chapters are organizing their own events, initiatives and activities throughout the week.

“A number of them are planning everything from social media campaigns to celebratory events on their jobsites to various efforts to recognize and highlight what they are doing,” said Turmail. “I think more broadly it’s a collective social media call for people to upload testimonials on why they love their careers in construction and to really spotlight some of the cool projects they’re working on and what they mean for people.”

AGC of America works to support the industry all year long, Turmail pointed out.

“For AGC of America, every week is �鶹��ý����ion Appreciation Week,” he said. “This is just an opportunity really for people who spend their day building these projects to carve out a little time to actually brag about what they do.

“Our plan is to spend a lot of time pushing out social media messages and, through our newsletters, encouraging members to keep the momentum up all week.”

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