Who We Are What We Do Markets Projects Connect With Us Work With Us News & Resources Earn While You Learn Workforce Development 00:00 00:37 S&B believes strongly in investing in our craft employees, creating paths to sustainable and rewarding careers. World-class project execution begins with a well-educated workforce, which is why we offer our team members many opportunities to enhance their skills in an “earn-while-you-learn” environment including on-the-job-training as well as specialty training programs available at our innovative Craft Education and Skills Enhancement Center in Baytown, Texas. Understanding the importance of building and expanding our skilled workforce, we have also developed programs aimed at bringing in new workers who have not traditionally considered careers in the construction industry. NCCER-Based Curriculum We are one of the largest users of the NCCER (National Center for Construction Education and Research) curriculum in the USA. Since 1999, S&B has been an NCCER Accredited Sponsor and NCCER Accredited Assessment Center. Following the NCCER curriculum, our craft employees can advance their education at their own pace, taking advantage of on-the-job, “earn-as-you-learn” opportunities or regularly-scheduled classes, as well as curriculum materials that can be taken home for study. Employees can progress from Helper to Craft Professionals using the nationally-recognized NCCER curriculum, led by our NCCER Certified Instructors. Craft Education and Development Program For more than 50 years, S&B has been a trailblazer in workforce development and continuing education of our employees. We are dedicated to building a skilled workforce while offering economic opportunity and family-sustaining wages to workers in our local communities. We are one of the largest users nationally of the NCCER curriculum, and provide free, hands-on skills upgrade training to all craft employees to help them progress their careers. We also offer regularly scheduled classes and curriculum materials that can be taken home for study. S&B has developed a results-driven, hire-to-train apprenticeship program which actively recruits individuals who may not previously have considered careers in the construction industry. Past and current programs have focused on such groups as women, veterans and career-minded high school graduates who are eager to join the workforce. The 16-week program consists of classroom instruction, hands-on training at our state-of-the-art Craft Education and Skills Enhancement Center in Baytown, Texas, and on-the-job-training at our construction sites. We began the apprenticeship program in 2008, implementing it successfully on a major project for Motiva to recruit women from the local community and train them in skilled crafts such as pipefitting. Since that time, we have implemented this program on numerous construction projects for multiple clients. Our program has been so successful that it has captured the attention of local, state and federal policymakers. Our approach served as the model for legislation recently enacted in Texas to encourage workforce development, and the previous Trump administration showed interest in our program as a blueprint for national initiatives. Craft Education and Skills Enhancement Center In 2018, we celebrated the grand opening of our innovative Craft Education & Skills Enhancement Center in Baytown, Texas. The new 12,500 square foot facility includes classrooms, administrative offices and open-air bays where students receive hands-on training in all of the major craft disciplines, including welding, pipefitting, electrical, millwright, civil & rigging, carpentry, crane operating, ironworking, scaffolding and safety. The new training center serves as the central hub of our wider workforce development program, which also includes on-the-job activities at our construction sites as well as classroom training at our various locations around Houston. This allows our craft professionals to “earn-as-you-learn.” A Brief History of S & B's Craft Education © 2021 by S&B Engineers and Constructors, Ltd.