International Operating Engineer - Summer 2017

Feature
FIFTEEN WOMEN CLIMBED
aboard the heavy equipment at the
Operating Engineers 324 Construction
Career Center, eager to try their hand
at one of Michigan’s most crucial and
skilled construction professions.
The group of women were
completing week four of a seven-week
course called Project: Accelerate!
The cutting-edge program is aimed
at helping women explore careers in
construction by providing seven, eighthour
sessions in different skill areas.
Project: Accelerate!
Alternate pathway helps women enter
and succeed in the skilled trades
For their fourth week, Operating
Engineers 324 provided the opportunity
for participants to gain hands-on
experience with the heavy machinery
that operators use every day to build
Michigan’s roads and bridges at their
The construction industry
brings women the closest to
parity in earning potential.
Howell training facility. These tools
included cranes, excavators and other
heavy equipment. The Howell facility
is a 555-acre, world-class training site
with modern and technical classroom
facilities.
“The demand for highly-skilled
workers in Michigan is high and
growing,” said Lee Graham, Director
of Labor-Management for Operating
Engineers 324. “The Operating
Engineers are proud to help encourage
and train the next generation of female
operators, and provide opportunities
for women across Michigan interested
in the building trades to get their start.”
[right] Women participating in Project:
Accelerate! visit the Operating Engineers
324 training site to gain hands-on
experience with the tools of the trade.
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INTERNATIONAL OPERATING ENGINEER
SUMMER 2017 17