THE Northern Marianas Technical Institute will need to hire two or three instructors so it can begin conducting construction classes, NMTI Interim CEO Jodina Attao told the House Education Committee on Tuesday.
During a meeting in the House chamber, she and the NMTI trustees fielded several questions from members of the committee chaired by Rep. Leila Staffler.
The vice chair of the committee, Rep. Sheila Babauta, noted that there will be an influx of federal monies coming in for infrastructure projects, but most of the funds must be spent in two years.
With the lack of construction workers, Babauta said it would be very challenging to complete these projects within two years.
NMTI Chairman Mario Valentino said the institute has an apprenticeship program for various trades, including construction, but he doesn’t think it could produce an adequate number of construction workers in two years.
He agrees with Babauta that having enough construction workers for infrastructure projects is a challenge.
Attao said NMTI’s construction trade classes are provided to students in modules. Depending on the content, one module takes two to three weeks to complete.
Right now, she said there are no construction classes going on at NMTI.
She said they are still waiting for the drawdown of funds that will allow NMTI to hire instructors for construction work.
On Guam, which has a much larger population than the CNMI, contractors said military construction projects could require 4,000 to 6,000 skilled workers by 2023.
In the U.S., the Associated Builders and Contractors said construction companies will need to hire 430,000 more workers than they employed in 2020, according to an analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
Northern Marianas Technical Institute Interim Chief Executive Officer Jodina Attao, third left, listens as NMTI Chairman Mario Valentino, center, answers questions from members of the House Committee on Education in the House chamber on Tuesday. Also in photo are the other NMTI board members.
Photo by Emmanuel T. Erediano
