Unlocking Potential: Developing and Attracting Young Talent
Between South Dakota’s unemployment rate below 2% at the start of the summer and our region’s continued growth in construction projects this year, you soon realize businesses need to do something different when it comes to workforce recruitment. The old methods of placing an ad in the newspaper, posting jobs online, buying space on billboards or promoting through radio ads just aren’t cutting it any longer.
So, three years ago we decided to try something different. Working with the Association of General Contractors (AGC) of South Dakota’s Workforce Development Team, regional high schools, the state’s technical colleges, the SD Department of Labor and the Build Dakota Scholarship Program, we shifted our approach and began recruiting a younger demographic.
A look at our numbers:
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Since 2020 we have provided 13 Build Dakota Scholarships with a retention rate of 90%
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As of this Summer, we have 19 employees between the ages of 23-18
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7 Full time
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3 Part time becoming Full time in 2024
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3 Part time becoming Full time in 2025
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6 Summer interns considering a job in our industry
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Since 2020, our retention rate among employees 18-23 is 76%
Recent photo of some of the new employees who attended our leadership training followed by a company parking lot party.
Rusty Fiegen, Vice President
Fiegen Construction
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