The Beaufort-Hyde Construction Center Training Project is unique because it is a model social enterprise that addresses job creation, affordable housing, and job and life skills training. Community Developers of Beaufort-Hyde, Inc. and Horne Consulting are developing a 33,000 square foot Panelized Housing Construction Training Center Project in Beaufort County, North Carolina. The project will provide employment opportunities with competitive wages to disadvantaged individuals, resulting in less government assistance and more economic independence. It will provide on-the-job training in the construction field to local residents who seek employment, training, and entrepreneurial opportunities. It is also a sustainable business that will generate its own profit once construction operations begin. It is a diverse project, which will address the identified needs of our area in a coordinated and highly collaborative manner. Creating BHC and the associated job skills training programs will provide opportunities in an area where there are few available employment resources.
This self-sustaining social enterprise can be reproduced throughout the United States and most of the world. The need for affordable housing and the associated construction trades exist in every community and in all economies. This project can be taken to other rural communities that need some type of catalyst in their local economy. It can also be utilized to create jobs and housing in an expeditious manner following natural disasters. This is a viable, replicable project that can have a long-term sustainable economic impact in Northeastern North Carolina and other similar regions throughout the United States.
Project Key Elements:
Job Creation: We will provide employment opportunities with competitive wages and associated support services to disadvantaged individuals, resulting in less government assistance, more economic independence, and more entrepreneurial opportunities.We will create a minimum of 112 new jobs with at least 60% of the staff coming from TANF/Work- First, low-income, unemployed, single female headed households, and other disadvantaged populations. We realize that many individuals and families will be unable to participate in the program without access to pertinent secondary services, so we will also provide child care, health benefits, and life skills learning opportunities to all employees.
Job Skills Training: Our comprehensive job training program will be offered in conjunction with Beaufort County Community College (BCCC), who will train the staff needed to work at the facility. Through a grant from the Golden LEAF Foundation, BCCC will provide Masonry, Electrical, Plumbing, HVAC, and Carpentry programs at no cost to prepare disadvantaged employees for the work force. Classes will be taught by certified faculty from BCCC. Participants must complete the required core training in order to obtain employment at the facility. Once they successfully complete the core training program in their desired construction field, they will earn livable wages through employment at the construction center in an apprentice program. They can continue their skills development under a skilled technician and achieve state certification in their selected field upon completion of the required hours. They can then go on to form their own small business, work for other employers, or work toward a management level position.
Life Skills Education: In addition to job training programs, the project will provide participants access to free life skills training programs. These programs include GED, English as a Second Language (ESL), and computer literacy training, which will be provided by Beaufort County Community College personnel. CDBH and other area nonprofits will provide housing counseling, finacial literacy, and other asset-building classes. CDBH will also provide Construction Center employees with access to free tax preparation in their Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program (VITA).
Business Start-up: Construction entrepreneurs will be able to apply for a loan from the CDBH and NC Rural Center Micro Enterprise Loan Program, which has been established to provide start-up money to qualified, first-time small business owners utilizing a trade developed in our program.
Self-Sustaining: BHC is a self-sustaining operation that can be replicated throughout the United States and most of the world. BHC will produce affordable, energy-efficient single-family and multi-family residential housing. Our housing will be more affordable than site-built housing and most other panelized manufacturers. We will have several floor plans that we will specialize in while offering a wide variety of other plans through an AutoCAD based architectural design program, all with the ability for customization. We are confident that the Beaufort-Hyde Construction Project and its jobs are self-sustaining and will continue functioning past the initial funding. The numbers indicate not only a sustainable organization, but also a profit-making entity ($1.8 million net profit by year 3).
Mission: The mission of Beaufort-Hyde ConstructionTraining Center Project is to become a model job creation social enterprise through the creative use of the unique resources available in our communities. Our organization will continually work to maintain the utmost efficiency and quality through our building staff, operations, and materials in order to keep the American dream of home ownership affordable for all.
Project Social Goals: While BHC corporate goals are profit and production oriented, our social and humanitarian goals are threefold: 1) To improve housing opportunities by building high quality, energy efficient, affordable housing to meet the needs of the area's low-income families and nonprofit housing providers, high-end beach homebuilders, and other Southeastern United States home buyers; 2) To enhance the capacity and quality of employment opportunities for area residents by creating new, better paying jobs; and, 3) To provide access and opportunity for improved quality of life and economic self-sufficiency through job skills, basic life skills, economic literacy, and management training programs.
Project Benefits:
The Construction Center (BHC) is a multifaceted, replicable project, which will produce the following results:
• Creation of at least 112 stable, year-round new jobs with competitive wages
• Increase in income levels and a higher standard of living for disadvantaged populations
• Provision of career on-the-job and life skills training for BHC employees
• Empowering of trained workers to form their own small businesses
• Provision of childcare for all Construction Center employees
• Provision of employee family health insurance
• Creation, recruitment, or expansion of secondary small businesses
• Attraction of new residents by creating jobs, housing units, and job skills
• Generation of new money by creating businesses that ship products outside the area
• Production of affordable housing units for the community
• Creation of Emergency Management housing and jobs assistance opportunities
• Reduction of government funded housing and other public assistance
Project Partners:
*US Dept. of Housing and Urban Development *Rural LISC *Mid-East Commission *NC Job Link *Albemarle Commission *NC Dept. of Commerce (DCA) *NC Community Development Initiative *East Carolina University (ECU) *US Dept. of Health & Human Services (OCS) *NC Dept. of Commerce (CFC) *NC Dept. of Commerce (NEP) *Northeastern CDC *Beaufort County Developmental Center *Weyerhaeuser Corporation *Beaufort, Tyrrell, Martin, Washington Co. DSS *Access Health Partnership *Northeast Beaufort Economic Development Corp. *SANE CDC *Beaufort County Community College *Wynne View, Inc *Duke University Law School CE Clinic *Hyde County CDC *Elizabeth City State University (ECSU) *ECSU-CRE *NC Employment Security Commission *WOW e-CDC *Towns of Belhaven, Roper, and Plymouth *Charity Advantage Foundation *North Carolina State University Industrial Extension * NC Department of Transportation *Golden LEAF Foundation *Totsland Pre-School and Nursery *Beaufort County Partnership for Children *NC Department of Labor *Martin County Community Action |
