Workforce Development

Areas Of Focus And Goals

Creating a four-year high school career and technical education (CTE) program in partnership with the Texas Education Agency (TEA) and the Hays County Independent School District. We have taken the first step towards achieving this goal by developing an internship program. Select TXAPA members in the Hays schools district will pilot the program. We will simultaneously begin building a full-fledged CTE curriculum, which is expected to take 2-3 years.

Developing a long-term strategy and marketing campaign to raise awareness of and promote asphalt pavement industry jobs. Market research kicked off in June 2022. The results are being used to create materials for print and digital touchpoints, including brochures, web site, social media, advertising, emails, text, etc. A social media teaser campaign launched in December 2022, with a full-scale launch scheduled for early 2023. Ongoing digital marketing will include fine-tuning to meet specific, measurable conversion goals.

Organizing boots-on-the-ground, known as “Workforce Rangers.” The effort, led by Women of Asphalt Texas, will draw upon TXAPA membership and TxDOT partnerships to populate the ranks of the Workforce Rangers, with the idea to capitalize on community involvement and relationships to gather intelligence on opportunities for the industry to participate in school-sponsored career exploration. Workforce Rangers will cultivate a calendar of events and coordinate industry presence through speaking engagements, career fair attendance, and other relevant activities.

FHWA Highway Construction Workforce Partnership Corporate Partner
TxDOT is partnering with The Texas A&M Transportation Institute to develop a portion of its Connect U2 Jobs program to find local workers for highway construction. The FHWA provides funding for the project through a Highway Workforce Partnership Grant. This portion of the program is industry-led and focused on working with a corporate partner (TXAPA) to develop a 15-week curriculum to provide candidates with the knowledge and skills they need to jumpstart their careers with a highway construction contractor. The audience is underrepresented groups in Bryan-College Station and surrounding areas.