This is a comprehensive heavy highway construction training academy aimed at addressing a shortage of skilled workers.

SACRAMENTO, CA – The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), Office of Civil Rights (OCR) has partnered with Baker Technical Institute (BTI), Highlands Community Charter and Technical Schools (HCCTS), and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to host a Heavy Highway Construction Trades Academy in Sacramento, California, beginning January of 2023.

The construction industry, particularly heavy highway construction has and will continue to endure a significant shortage of skilled trade workers. To ease this trend, FHWA and Caltrans have joined forces to fund an On-The-Job (OJT) Heavy Highway Equipment Operator and Construction Academy for the Trades.

Our strategic Highway Construction Workforce Partnership (HCWP) and our industry partners agreed on a framework to identify, recruit, and train Heavy Equipment Operators (HEO) and Highway Construction Trades Workers. Caltrans recognizes Baker Technical Institute and Highlands Community Charter School as innovative partners with the ability and resources to deliver this program to our local community.

The program aims to provide opportunities to minority, women, veteran, the previously incarcerated, and disadvantaged individuals by offering a life-changing career opportunity. Additionally, we have industry partners joining our ranks to help provide equipment, knowledge, and other real-life learning experiences during live field visits to construction sites for job shadowing prospects. This program is just one of the many ways the FHWA works with Caltrans and its partners to grow specialized talent needed to keep America’s roads, bridges, and communities safe.

Michael Caliendo of the FHWA, “The most important investment we can make in our nation’s highway system is in the people entrusted to build and protect it.”

To being this journey, we created a selection committee to develop an application process to select applicants to join our academy. The program consists of five weeks of intense, hands-on training with participants working in classrooms, in virtual reality labs using simulators, and in the field running equipment and training alongside BTI’s most experienced instructors. As the training concludes, participants will demonstrate their newly acquired skills to actual California contractors during our heavy equipment land lab.

Participants will earn multiple industry recognized certifications. BTI will host the HEO training using many different types of heavy machinery operated being used in today’s highway construction industry. Certifications include concrete and asphalt skills training, forklift operation, various safety certifications, such as OSHA-10 Hour HAZMAT First Responder, first aid – CPR, traffic control & flagger certifications, as well as a coveted NCCER industry recognized HEO Certification. Participants will gain skills in trenching and shoring safety, land grade basics, construction math, blueprint reading, career readiness, personal wellness, and spend time at construction sites observing best trades and safety practices.

“Our entire team is honored to be part of such an amazing project,” says Doug Dalton, President of BTI. “This program exemplifies what can be accomplished with an innovative approach to collaboration between agencies, trainers, and contractor groups. Programs like this can put participants’ lives on a new trajectory and will swing them into a respected career field while helping to build a much-needed pipeline of trained workers for employers who desperately need them.”

“This training could not come at a better time as California continues to make major progress to rebuild, revitalize, and reimagine our infrastructure to support a cleaner, safer, and more equitable transportation system, where access to skilled workers will be critical especially if it will be successful and sustainable, ” says Associate Director of the Caltrans Office of Civil Rights, David DeLuz and adds, “We strive to provide this program opportunity to traditionally underrepresented groups that have historically not had access to quality training like this to build a stronger diverse workforce.”

For more information about the Heavy Highway Construction Trades Academy contact 916.844.2283

About Caltrans:

Caltrans manages more than 50,000 miles of California’s highway and freeway lanes, provides inner-city rail services, permits more than 400 public-use airports and special-use hospital heliports, and works with local agencies. Caltrans carries out its mission with six primary programs: Aeronautics, Highway Transportation, Mass Transportation,
Transportation Planning, Administration, and the Equipment Service Center.

About Baker Technical Institute:

Baker Technical Institute (BTI) is a leading provider of Career Technical Education programs focused on developing the next generation of skilled workers, technology innovators, entrepreneurs, and community leaders. Headquartered in Baker City, Oregon, BTI offers cutting-edge education and training, leading to certification in high-wage, high-demand careers, such as construction, heavy equipment operation, truck driving, welding, computer science, agricultural sciences, natural resources and environmental sciences, engineering, health services, and manufacturing.
For more information, go to bakerti.org