ABC Of Wisconsin Member Apprentice Wins 2019 National Craft Championship Medal

LONG BEACH, California – Associated Builders and Contractors of Wisconsin announced an employee of one its member companies took home a bronze medal at the 32^nd annual National Craft Championships (NCC) during ABC Convention 2019 in Long Beach, California.

Chad St. John, a carpentry apprentice for Northcentral Construction Corporation, took the bronze award in the competition’s residential-commercial carpentry division. St. John had advanced to the NCC after receiving the top score in carpentry during ABC of Wisconsin’s Skills Competition on Jan. 25 in West Bend.

The NCC featured a field of 168 craft professionals competing for top honors in 14 competitions representing 12 crafts, from electrical and plumbing to carpentry and welding, as well as a team competition with journey-level competitors from four different crafts working to complete a joint project. The competition included a two-hour written exam and a day-long, hands-on practical performance test.

In addition to St. John, Wisconsin was represented in the NCC competition by Jedidiah Krug of Current Electric Co. in Brookfield in the residential-commercial electrical division and Cody Heath of Terrytown Plumbing in Baraboo in the plumbing division.

» RELATED: Photos from the National Craft Championships and Awards Ceremony

“The annual National Craft Championships honors the best the merit shop construction industry has to offer,” said 2019 ABC National Chair Tony Rader, telecom vice president of National Roofing Partners in Coppell, Texas. “I am always amazed by the level of dedication NCC competitors show to their craft, safety and professional development. This talented group of craft professionals are leaders in our workforce, and I look forward to their continued contributions to the construction industry.”

Started in 1987, NCC is part of ABC’s effort to raise the profile of careers in construction and highlight the $1.1 billion that ABC member companies spend annually on workforce development. Each year, the competition draws some of the nation’s most talented craft professionals and highlights the important role that craft skills education plays in the construction industry.

Construction Management Competition

Meanwhile, a team of undergraduate students from the University of Wisconsin-Stout in Menomonie received first place in the safety category of ABC’s annual Construction Management Competition (CMC).

Twenty-one college and university teams were assigned the same construction management project to complete over two days in a competition designed to challenge knowledge, organization, time management and presentation skills, giving the nation’s top construction management students a glimpse into the real world of construction.

Awards were given in five categories: project management, quality control, estimating, safety and for the overall competition.

The members of the UW-Stout team were Ryan Arts, Alex Daniels, Matthew Jagodzinski, Jordan Jenson, Vincent Lien and Michael Sonsalla.

All CMC participants are active members of the ABC National Student Chapter Network, which connects local ABC chapters to colleges and universities with construction management programs to work toward the ultimate goal of building the talent pipeline and mentoring future leaders in the construction industry. In addition to UW-Stout, Wisconsin was also represented by UW-Platteville in the competition.

The project for this year’s competition focused on the District Edgewood High School Event Center and Sports Complex, a new 14,202-square-foot, single-story event center building in West Covina, California.