FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date 6/30/00

Contact: Matt Derrick
(816) 942-8800, ext. 213

Competition builds pride among youths in construction industry

While the sounds of construction are nothing new to Downtown Kansas City, it is a bit unusually to see young people constructing kitchens along the sidewalk outside Bartle Hall. Yet that was the scene during the SkillsUSA Championships held at the convention center June 26-30.

The SkillsUSA Championships are a national-level competition for career and technical students in public high schools and college trade, industrial, technical and health occupations programs. The SkillsUSA Championships feature more than 4,000 contestants competing in 70 hands-on skill and leadership contests.

"SkillsUSA Championships bring together young people in a disciplined environment much like what they would experience in the real world," said John Crowley, chairman of the competition's technical committee and president of New England Classic. "Manufacturers believe that we are responsible for training the next generation of craftsmen."

In the TeamBuild competition, ten teams of four vocational students from across the country competed for the national championship. Each team worked together to schedule, organize and build a 10-foot-by-10-foot kitchen complete with two exterior walls, a window, siding, cabinetry, countertops, appliances and plumbing.

Companies donating tools and materials for the TeamBuild Competition included: Andersen Window Company, Becker Electric Supply, Belkin, BOSCH Power Tools, BuildNet, Cahners Publishing, Copper Development Association, Elkay Sinks and Insinkerator, Georgia Pacific, Keidel Supply Company, Linbeck Construction Corp., Magla Products, Inc., Masco Corporation, McGuire-Nichols, New England Classic, Portland Cement Association, SkillsUSA, The Stanley Works, Triangle Pacific cabinets (Armstrong World Industries), U.S. Safety, Whirlpool Corp., and Wilsonart.

Several members of the Home Builders Association of Greater Kansas City (HBA) volunteered as judges during the SkillsUSA Championships. The HBA also helped arrange for materials donated by business for the TeamBuild Competition to be donated to Habitat for Humanity Kansas City. The kitchen materials will be used in 12 homes that the organization plans to build this fall.

"This will go a long way toward helping us reach our home-building goals for this year," said Ray Clough, construction manager for Habitat for Humanity Kansas City.

The Home Builders Association (HBA) of Greater Kansas City is the voice of the housing industry and the source for housing information. Comprising more than 1,000 member companies, the HBA represents an industry that contributes more than 2.5 billion dollars to the Kansas City economy and supports more than 36,000 jobs in the Greater Kansas City metropolitan area.

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