May 11, 2017

Brown Construction Supports Workforce Development in Youth Design-Build Competition

Brown Construction has long been an avid supporter of workforce development programs in the construction industry, in an effort to remedy the workforce shortage that has become a generational crisis. To this end, our executives and staff have served on the boards of the Sacramento Regional Builders Exchange (SRBX) Educational Foundation and the CREATE Mentoring Program for many years. Each year, Brown Construction sponsors the SRBX Educational Foundation's annual Design-Build Competition. The two-day competition is held at Cosumnes River College and this year more than 200 youth participated on 15 high school and youth program teams. Brown Construction, Inc. was proud to sponsor the Winters High School team by providing the materials they needed to complete their 96-square-foot shed.

The event is designed to promote construction career awareness and create a fun learning experience for Sacramento area youth. Each team completes the challenge of designing and preparing construction documents for a 96-square-foot structure. Teams compete in one of two categories: The Shed Competition or the Open Competition. Construction of the structure takes place over a two-day period and a panel of architectural and construction professionals from the greater Sacramento area serve as judges. Structures are judged on the students' ability to perform all the functions of the project including planning and design, scheduling, overall project management, conduct, as well as craftsmanship, teamwork, and safety.

A remarkable development in the 2017 Design-Build Competition: four out of the 15 teams opted to build tiny homes (instead of sheds) in partnership with Sacramento nonprofit, Kavanah, to provide shelter for eligible homeless veterans in Sacramento. Read more on tiny homes for Sacramento's homeless vets here.

Sacramento Regional Builders Exchange (SRBX) Educational Foundation: Since its founding in 2004, the Sacramento Regional Builders Exchange Education Foundation (SRBXEF, formerly the Construction Industry Educational Foundation), has contributed significantly to the health of the construction and design industry by uncompromisingly supporting educational endeavors, mentoring initiatives and training activities throughout the Sacramento region.