Heavy Metal Summer Camp

May 10

It’s not quite what it sounds like, but it’s just as cool.

Angie Simon, former CEO of Western Allied Mechanical, joined us last year to talk about baseball analogies that can strengthen your construction game. Today she’s here to talk about an exciting youth-oriented construction-recruiting program that came up in that conversation: the Heavy Metal Summer Experience.

(Before we get to the substance of Angie’s visit, we discuss one of the best recent construction-related movies, Lego Movie. If you haven’t seen it, you really, really should regardless of your age.)

Right out of the gate, Angie shares with us some amazing growth numbers about the HMSE program:

First year: 1 location and 28 kids
Second year : 11 locations and 170
Third year: 22 locations and 400 kids

This program is designed for kids who are approaching high school graduation and don’t want to go to college. Angie explains that the 30 hours of hands-on experience that this program beats the pants off of a simple booth at a career fair.

She sees kids quickly become excited about sheet metal work, welding, and more.

Angie outlines the elements of the of the program in the order:

A discussion about the importance of safety
A tour of the shop
Discussion about construction models (BIM, etc.)
Hands-on work with sheet metal, pipe fitting, soldering
Programming of a sheet metal laser
Hands-on work with electrical (new this year)

Tyler shares about his visit to the Allied Mechanical shop and mentions that construction is the new Silicon Valley.

Angie talks about the significance of word-of-mouth in the recruiting game. She shares about a pair of brothers and a friend who all came for mock interviews.

Eddie asks Angie to talk about her HMSC playbook. This book dramatically reduces the load for hosts by compiling all kinds of useful information:

Forms (permission slips, content-release forms, etc.)
Permits
Instructions for several projects
Lessons learned from past sessions
A detailed schedule

Angie shares that several students have been hired by contractors directly from these summer programs. She shares a story about a student who had been dealing with depression before starting the HMSC program. That student is now in her second year of apprenticeship.

Eddie talks about the value of this sort of training opportunity for the trainers–increased pride and purpose. Angie talks about the challenges of growing the program with a combination of paid people and volunteers.

Angie’s megaphone message: It’s not about your butt-crack plumber anymore. No, actually that’s not her megaphone message, but it is something she said. Here’s what she really said: It’s our industry. We made the industry, so we need to take responsibility for it. Get the word out there about how great the trades can be. We need to share our stories about the secret of a great life in the trades.

Find Angie Online: LinkedIn - Heavy Metal Summer Experience

Find Us Online: BrosPodcast.com - LinkedIn - Youtube - Instagram - Facebook - Eddie's LinkedIn - Tyler's LinkedIn

If you enjoy the podcast, please rate us on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to us! Thanks for listening!