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In a creative response to the industry's workforce shortages, Hebert Construction is turning to students at North Yarmouth Academy for help building a $6 million project on their own school grounds.
The Lewiston-based contractor has hired a dozen students to work on an expansion of NYA's Travis Roy Ice Arena and Fitness & Wellness Center.
Besides providing help on the job site, the collaboration is providing students of the Yarmouth school with competitive wages and job experience.
“It’s a way of supporting the trades, seeing how hard it is every day, feeling like they’re contributing to their school and having the ability to have a humbling experience of working hard,” said Tim Hebert, owner of Hebert Construction and a parent of NYA students. Hebert is also a 2020 Mainebiz Business Leader of the Year.
The team-up follows a similar successful program with young people at Tree Street Youth in Lewiston. Hebert Construction worked with kids there to provide jobs and skills and get them involved with building their community center.
“It’s a way to teach kids that the trades are important and every task on a job site is important,” Hebert said.
At NYA, five seniors donned hardhats in May and worked in the arena as part of their senior service projects, and seven other students have signed on for the summer. Each week, they get to choose their own hours. Full-time employment is available for those interested, with the opportunity to get involved in other sites Hebert Construction is working on.
Hebert, who began his construction career digging ditches and sweeping job sites, said supporting foundational jobs of the building trades has become important as people age out of them and not enough young people enter.
“The construction industry has a shrinking workforce, and students need flexibility to self-regulate their work-life balance. The balance and idea here for me is you’re only a kid once, but every emerging leader should experience a hard day’s work," Hebert said.
The same is true in fields such as farming, fishing and transportation, he added.
"To go from finishing an AP math exam to being told how to properly sweep a floor can be humbling and help build a foundation for success,” Hebert said.
In addition to paying the students, Hebert Construction will donate $25 back to the project for every hour of student work. If NYA students cumulatively work over 200 hours, the contribution will be doubled.
“It’s a chance to have a great summer job, earn some money and be involved directly in a project that will benefit the school and their education. The whole project aligned with the mission of learning opportunities at the school,” Ben Jackson, NYA’s head of school, told Mainebiz.
Students are performing a range of tasks, from maintaining the job site to doing light demolition work to laying plywood subfloors, Jackson said. Students 18 years or older can use power tools. The students also learn by watching the civil and mechanical engineers work, and seeing the construction teams perform tasks like putting steel footers in place.
“When I first made the announcement, we had a line at the door to get application packets,” Jackson said. “They’re really excited about what this project means for the school and they’re learning some valuable skills and life lessons, as well.”
In April, NYA began construction of the Travis Roy Arena and the addition of a fitness and wellness center, funded primarily with a $4 million gift from Frederique and Jarrod Daniel, parents of four NYA students.
The 4,000 square foot center will include cardio and strength training equipment, weights, and flexible space for yoga, meditation, and mindfulness. There will also be dedicated space for classroom instruction and team meetings. The project will also modernize the ice arena with new locker rooms, athletic training space, and additional seating.
NYA, founded in 1814, is an independent, college preparatory, coeducational school with about 375 students.
Hebert Construction, with offices in Lewiston and Portland, has grown over 75 years and four generations of family leadership from a small residential carpentry company into a leading construction contractor across northern New England.
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