Lee Arsenault of The Vintage Group was honored as the Northeast Florida Builders Association Member of the Month in May. Arsenault was selected for the award because of his involvement and leadership in the Builders Youth Day at Palencia recently.
“Lee Arsenault’s commitment to the industry’s future was evident in the level of energy he poured into this project,” said NEFBA President Jerry Linder, who presented the award at the May board meeting. “Lee was instrumental in obtaining the support and participation of a number of other NEFBA members which made the event a great success.”
The event was organized by NEFBA’s Building Today’s Workforce for Tomorrow advisory committee, of which Arsenault is a member. Building Today’s Workforce for Tomorrow is one of 10 pilot projects nationwide selected by the Home Builders Institute, the workforce development arm of the National Association of Home Builders, to increase recruitment into residential construction trades.
This project was funded by a grant awarded under the President’s High Growth Job Training Initiative through the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration.
More than 400 junior and senior high school students from across Florida’s First Coast received a behind-the-scenes look at how professional craftsmen and builders transform seemingly desolate dirt lots into homes complete with white picket fences and tropical landscaping.
“We invited all construction and design students from Baker, Clay, Duval and St. Johns counties,” said Laura Laseman, NEFBA’s training director. “Our intent is to keep kids interested in construction as a career, to show them all of the aspects of the industry, and to get them fired up.”
Laseman said Committee chair Anna Lebesch, vice president for Workforce Development at St. Johns River Community College, led the school participation efforts, and Arsenault played a critical role in the success of the event by encouraging other NEFBA members to participate.
Volunteers and staff from St. Johns River Community College, NEFBA members, NEFBA Sales and Marketing Council members and various area home builders were on hand to lead the students through construction site tours and answer questions about every step of the process from slab preparation, framing and drywall installation, to the wiring, masonry and interior design of the finished home.
Participating schools included Pedro Menendez High School, Englewood High School, Orange Park High School, Ridgeview High School, Bartram Trail High School, Keystone Heights High School, Middleburg High School, Fleming Island High School, Clay High School and Baker County High.