Greg Willingham spends almost as much time building the future as he does putting up structures. The senior superintendent at McCarthy Building Companies works to find the next generation of industry employees and get them started sooner than later.
“Part of my role is to do outreach to high schools, organizations and workforce development programs so everyone is aware there’s a need for skilled trade employees,” said Willingham. “At the same time, I try to get young people interested and involved in those trades. For a long time, there was not a lot of push for that, and there are still very few construction programs in high schools. I’m getting out there and making students aware that there are opportunities.”
Willingham also teams with other industries to spread the word that skilled workers are in high demand. As a general contracting firm, McCarthy has partnerships with painters, plumbers and electricians. But it’s Willingham’s construction background that gives him first-hand experience to share.
“There are challenges, but it’s also very rewarding,” he said.
Willingham’s message resonated with Khaliq Worthy, a recent graduate of Southwest DeKalb High who was looking for hands-on career opportunities. He decided to give construction a try, but taking that class required leaving his home school and riding a bus to Cross Keys High about 20 miles away.
“Before my junior year, I really didn’t know what I wanted to do, but the counselors at my school said I had enough credits to do a special project like the Cross Keys construction class,” said Worthy. “It got so interesting that I saw it as an analogy for myself. If I was building a frame for a bathroom, putting in plumbing or wiring for electricity, I saw how every part had a significant impact on the one big thing I was working on. It made me realize that the small details in life matter, too.”
One of Worthy’s instructors met Willingham at a career fair and made an introduction.
“We interviewed Khaliq and his construction teacher at Cross Keys,” said Willingham. “Within 20 minutes, I was very impressed with his ability to communicate what he was looking for. I thought he’d be a great fit to do an internship on our Brookhaven city hall project about a mile from Cross Keys.”
In his last high school semester, Worthy worked as an apprentice on McCarthy’s concrete team.
“I did small stuff like organizing tools and taking out trash, but I was also helping with concrete framing,” Worthy said. “I got to shadow the concrete workers and the electricians.”
By the end of the spring, the company was ready to hire him as a full time carpenter, and after graduating in May, Worthy became one of the company’s youngest employees and the first recruited from a high school program.
“And a lot of times people think of construction as being wet, cold and hot,” said Willingham. “But I’m here to tell them it’s also a great career.”
Information about the Cross Keys construction program is online at crosskeyshs.dekalb.k12.ga.us.
SEND US YOUR STORIES. Each week we look at programs, projects and successful endeavors at area schools, from pre-K to grad school. To suggest a story, contact H.M. Cauley at hm_cauley@yahoo.com or 770-744-3042.
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