The Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) and Destination ImagiNation (DI) have announced the continuation of the AEM Construction Challenge. The AEM Construction Challenge, a career-education initiative, will return for the 2009-2010 season in a new format that will allow it to reach a larger audience than ever before.
The program is currently offered in more than 30 countries, and every year, more than 100,000 students participate in the program worldwide. Through its “Challenge A – DIrect DIposit,” thousands of participating teams will be exposed to construction-related subject matter in 2009-2010.
“We want to make sure we continue to reach participants with creative problem solving and information about construction careers,” said Rusty McCarty, president of DI, Glassboro, N.J.
The winning teams will advance from Regional tournaments (held March 2010) to affiliate tournaments (held April 2010) and then on to global finals (held late May 2010). While attending advanced tournaments, the teams will also have the opportunity to interact with AEM representatives and learn about careers in the construction industry.
“Our Construction Challenge was created as a platform to educate students and the public about rewarding, interesting and lucrative career opportunities,” said Dennis Slater, president of AEM, West Allis, Wis. “We want to attract even more young people to continue providing the innovation needed for our quality of life. While our nation’s leaders are planning for the creation of millions of jobs, we are focused on what we can do to help develop this growing skilled workforce.”
The AEM Construction Challenge program offers an opportunity for students, teachers, parents and community leaders to learn more about teamwork, creative problem solving and rewarding industry career paths, as well as building an awareness of the impact of infrastructure on our quality of life. Because the equipment manufacturing industry needs to fill more than 1 million new jobs by 2012, AEM partnered with DI in 2007 to develop the AEM Construction Challenge as an industrywide effort to motivate young people to consider joining the industry. For more information, visit www.constructionchallenge.org.
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