The Roanoker Sept/October 2023 - 94

Homes
'Satisfying, Lucrative Career'
written
by Stacey
Manganelli
An affordable
alternative to
traditional higher
education exists
right here in
the Roanoke
Valley, thanks
to F&S Building
Innovations.
T
94
september/october 2023
he staff at F&S grappled for years with a shortage
of skilled laborers in the area to respond to the
region's needs for electricians, plumbers, carpenters,
and other types of construction workers.
Determined to find a solution, they started their
own trade school in 2020 to address the deficit.
This trade school, Build Smart Institute,
offers courses that allow students a direct path
to employment. It is a higher education facility,
like any other college, but with tuition that is
comparatively more affordable than a traditional
four-year school. It also provides hands-on training in
the field.
Vice President of F&S and President of Build Smart
Institute, Alicia Smith, started working in construction
part-time as a teenager. She has been involved in the
industry for multiple decades since then.
Smith observes that demand for employees in construction
does not vary over time as the demand in other
industries does. This makes it a stable career option in a
mercurial job market.
" Our society regularly sees technology sprout up and
then quickly become obsolete in 5-10 years, which can
make a career centered around that technology extremely
successful...until it's not, " Smith says. " However, construction?
We will always need to build new homes,
new offices, new community facilities - that will never
change. Newer or more efficient methods or materials
may emerge, but the industry will never become obsolete. "
The work students train to do at Build Smart Institute
can also lead to a high level of job satisfaction. Wesley
Cotner, the director of education at the Institute,
describes the work as visually rewarding.
He says employees can experience a sense of achievement
from driving up to an empty lot and leaving six
months later with a family's home standing there. Other
students are proud of walking into obviously outdated
hospitals, working for a time and leaving a facility that
looks brand new when the job is done.
Thanks to the hard work of school officials in the
region, the opportunity to pursue construction as a
trade is now available for students as young as 14. Patrick
TheRoanoker.com
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The Roanoker Sept/October 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Roanoker Sept/October 2023

The Roanoker Sept/October 2023 - Cover1
The Roanoker Sept/October 2023 - Cover2
The Roanoker Sept/October 2023 - 3
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The Roanoker Sept/October 2023 - Cover3
The Roanoker Sept/October 2023 - Cover4
https://www.nxtbook.com/leisuremedia360/leisure/the-roanoker-july-august-2024
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