Celebrating the students and teachers who create the construction industry’s future

Late last month, the Gould Construction Institute (GCI) held its annual Student Appreciation Night and honored graduating apprentices. It’s a great event where students celebrate the hard work they put in to reach a career milestone, with our entire community on hand to join them while enjoying raffles, giveaways, good food and refreshments as they complete another year of their education. 

It’s important to highlight the presence of so many GCI teachers, who come out in force to support the students. Amid an industry-wide labor shortage and while we continue to work hard at opening opportunities for those wanting to enter the trades, it’s our teachers who tirelessly devote themselves to ensuring a channel of qualified talent for ABC MA member companies.

The other thing that made the evening special was that it was the first time we could hold this celebration at our own state-of-the-art training facility. After years of hard work, GCI has its own place where students can learn and get the hands-on training they need to prepare them for careers in the construction industry.

Next year, when we celebrate a new class of graduates at GCI, we hope you’ll join us to meet these talented and qualified apprentices, enjoy great food, networking, tour our state-of-the-art training facility and say thank you to our educators who are helping to develop the craftspeople our companies need to thrive. 

Luiza Mills is the 2025 ABC MA chair and senior vice president at Interstate Electrical Services Corp., North Billerica, Mass.