Building new opportunities: HCC celebrates Construction Center of Excellence grand opening

Jun 23, 2016

Maria Avendaño has a bachelor’s degree in Architecture from a university in Venezuela, but the Houston Community College (HCC) international student wanted to learn the basics of the Construction industry in the United States.

“I was always curious about the American construction methods since we use a different system of measurement in my country,” said Avendaño, who is studying Construction Management Technology. “It’s been really hard for me since our unit system is metric and here we use the imperial system.”

Avendaño told her story to a crowd of HCC administrators, trustees, faculty, staff, industry and community partners, and fellow students during the grand opening of the Construction Center of Excellence (COE) at the J.B. Whiteley Building of HCC Central, which is named after the third president of HCC.

"On this day, in a building that was created specifically for technical training, we are continuing Mr. Whiteley’s quest to offer superior workforce careers," said Dr. William Harmon, president, HCC Central. "Technical training was his lifeblood."

Careers such as Construction Technology, Industrial Electricity, Industrial Automation, and HVAC (heating, air conditioning & refrigeration), offered at the Construction Center of Excellence, have proven to be recession-proof.

“The education students are getting at HCC is beyond most bachelor degree education; the difference is, after 18 to 24 months here, they enter the job market making anywhere from $20 - 40,000 a year,” said Keith Avery, Sales and Marketing Manager at Hampden Engineering Corporation, who encourages people to change their perception of skilled trades because these are the jobs that are so prevalent in manufacturing and construction. “Trades such as plumbing, electrical, construction, masonry have close to a 100% job placement rate. If you have the skills, the only reason you are not working, is because you don’t want to.”

“The focus of the HCC Construction Center of Excellence is job-readiness. Most of our students find jobs before they complete our programs,” said COE Director Kris Asper.

Maria Avendaño plans to put her architecture and construction management knowledge to use at any job site and eventually run her own company.

To learn more about the programs offered at the HCC Construction Center of Excellence, visit hccs.edu/construction.