Critical Impact
By Brad Fullmer
It’s no secret that labor—particularly of the skilled kind—is in high demand in Utah, and only increasing as time goes by.
That knowledge makes the recent completion of the $5.4-million, 16,160-SF AGC of Utah Training Center, an especially important milestone for association members and the construction industry statewide, and a much-needed boost in training the next generation of workers.
AGC executives, past chairmen, members, and community dignitaries—including Utah Governor Spencer Cox—were on hand November 30, 2021 to celebrate the center’s ribbon cutting and recognize the collaborative effort of the over 170 firms who donated money, labor, materials, and their collective expertise to make it happen.
“What we celebrate today is truly a momentous occasion in the Utah construction industry,” said Scott Okelberry, President of Orem-based Sunroc and 2021 AGC of Utah Chairman. “Many of you here have built a career and your livelihood in the construction business. It’s a critical part of our economy and workforce and we’re trying to make it better everyday. What we do with this facility is an important part of that.”
Okelberry emphasized that the main topic of conversation with his employees and industry associates is firms not having enough people to do quality work safely and on time. “It’s our number one challenge,” he said. “I’d venture to say that everyone here who plays a management role in this business feels the same way.”
He credited past AGC leaders with getting the ball rolling a decade ago on this facility and anticipates its impact will be felt for generations.
“Today, we commemorate the opening of something that will change the future of the construction industry and construction workforce in the state of Utah,” Okelberry concluded. “It’s not an overstatement, it’s not an over-dramatization. This is going to be an important facility that puts our money and action where our mouths have been for a long time. And that’s a big deal.”
Governor Cox followed, mentioning his daily conversations regarding Utah’s workforce. “I love to celebrate 2.2% unemployment, but it’s a lot less fun when you’re looking for employees, and we desperately need them,” he said. “Utah’s economy is hotter than any in the nation right now, but the thing holding us back is our labor force.”
Cox surmised that continuing to direct youth toward trades and alternative options to a traditional college education is the most tenable solution.
“This idea that every person needs a bachelor’s degree … It’s bad for our kids and it’s bad for our economy,” said Cox. “I’m proud of the work happening in our applied technical colleges and high schools as we’re broadening those pathways to let kids know there are incredible job opportunities and careers out there and places like this, where you come and get trained and hit the ground running.”
Senator Karen Mayne of Utah’s 5th District—a long-time advocate of the construction and trade industries, said she has “followed this project for a long time. […] Trade men and women have built this nation. They are thinkers and doers. Thinkers are great, but if there’s not a doer, it just sits in their head or on a piece of paper or it doesn’t go anywhere. That’s the skills of the crafts and trades. We need somebody to do it. This is a building to give skills to the doers.”
Design Reflects Various Industry Trades
The design of the training center, located on a 1.5-acre parcel next to AGC’s headquarters in West Valley City, offers a variety of building materials and showcases different trades, including masonry, light gauge steel, structural steel, glass, wood and timber framing, structural insulated panels, cast-in-place concrete, and tilt-up concrete insulated panels.
The aesthetics complement the headquarters, creating a unified campus.
The approach was to carry over some of the same themes present in the original building, but at the same time do something that was utilizing materials a little differently, according to Ralph Stanislaw, Principal with Archiplex Group of Salt Lake, who designed the training center as well as AGC’s headquarters 13 years ago. “We focused a bit more on higher levels of durability and not overwhelm the original building,” he continued,“We wanted to make it seem like a cohesive campus yet maintain a comfortable thematic relationship.”
Training areas include a large auditorium, flexible seminar rooms, and inside and outdoor hands-on spaces. Large, 38-ft-tall tilt-up insulated concrete sandwich panels were utilized on the 6,000-SF learning lab. Surrounding this large volume is 2,000-plus SF of classroom space within the masonry volumes, and a 100-person capacity auditorium housed within cast-in-place concrete walls. Support spaces include an office/workroom, catering kitchen, storage, and restrooms.
The building is water sensitive, with low-flow fixtures and drought-tolerant landscaping. Materials for the white roofing membrane, as well as the site’s light-colored pervious pavement, were chosen for their high solar reflectance index, which aides in reducing heat island effects common to urban areas.
“We wanted this project to feel more utilitarian,” added Preston Croxford, Project Architect for Archiplex Group. “This is a useable space for trades and oriented towards usability, so durability was a factor. We wanted to feature a lot of different trades. It becomes a design challenge to make a cohesive whole out of a steel piece, a CMU piece, a wood piece, and a cast-in-place concrete piece. Trying to feature all these trades, and bring them together in a cohesive manner, was definitely a design challenge.”
Collective Member Effort
More than 170 AGC member firms participated in the construction of the center, led by a trio of general contractors: Jacobsen Construction of Salt Lake City, Zwick Construction of Murray, and Layton Construction of Sandy.
Doug Welling, former President/CEO of Jacobsen Construction, served as AGC Chair in 2018, and it was under his watch that the wheels started turning on this project.
“The pathway to grow our industry is through craft workers and our ability to train them,” said Welling. “It took longer than I ever hoped, but to see our industry come together and produce a training center … This sets people up for a career in this industry.”
“It’s all part of the next generation,” said Terry Wright, a former Jacobsen executive who served as Project Executive. “It’s important to leave something for other folks to learn the trade I love—that’s the biggest reason to get involved. This was a good opportunity to give back to the industry.”
“This is your facility; it was built by you guys. There were a lot of people who had their fingers in the pie to make this happen,” said Rich Thorn, President/CEO of AGC of Utah, at the conclusion of the ribbon cutting. “Is it the neatest thing ever? In my mind, it is. Will we make a dent in the training need? We believe we will. At the end of the day, this is something that will be here for a long time. It’s something we need, something we believe in.”
AGC of Utah Training Center
Owner: AGC of Utah
Architect: Archiplex Group
General Contractor: Jacobsen Construction, Zwick Construction, Layton Construction
Civil Engineer: PEPG Consultants
Electrical Engineer: Hunt Electric
Mechanical Engineer: CCI Mechanical
Structural Engineer: BHB Structural
Geotech: AGEC Applied Geotech
Landscape Architect: Great Western Landscape
Plumbing Subcontractor: CCI Mechanical, Archer Mechanical, KK Mechanical, Western Automatic Fire Protection
HVAC Subcontractor: CCI Mechanical, Harris Company, KHO Mechanical
Electrical Subcontractor: Hunt Electric, Cache Valley Electric, GSL Electric, JT Electric, Cupertino Electric, Skyline Electric, Taylor Electric, Wasatch Electric, Wilkinson Electric
Concrete: Gerber Construction, Big-D Construction, Ralph L. Wadsworth Construction, Wadsworth Brothers, Geneva Rock, Staker-Parson, Eagle Concrete, Burbidge Concrete, Iron Mountain Rebar, MC Green and Sons, Hadco
Steel Fabrication: Green’s Welding, J&M Steel Solutions, Steel Encounters
Steel Erection: Hogan & Associates
Glass/Curtain Wall: Midwest D-Vision Solutions/Bountiful Glass, B&D Glass, Mollerup Glass, Steel Encounters, Skyview Glass
Excavation: Ames Construction, Granite Construction, Geopier Northwest, Jones Excavating, Kilgore Companies, Morgan Asphalt, Whitaker Construction
Masonry Subcontractor: IMS Masonry, Ashgrove, Sunroc
Other Specialty Contractors: Daw Construction Group, Bruin Painting, Hegeman Painting, JRC Tile, Daltile, Gramoll Construction, Okland Construction, Diversified Flooring, D-7 Roofing
VA Salt Lake City Health Care System set to open 11th clinic; third healthcare facility in Salt Lake County when South Salt Lake location opens in 2028.
CANstruction delivers a meaningful way for the industry to help the community fight hunger and food insecurity while showcasing the immense talents of Utah’s A/E/C professionals. By Taylor Larsen
Current Chair Craig Madsen remains optimistic about Utah's construction future. By Bradley Fullmer
Nine captivating projects, from Alpine to Boise, receive interior design honors at IIDA Intermountain’s annual awards event
Lifestyle renters, resort-style amenities, and affordability challenges are reshaping apartment development from Brigham City to Santaquin. By Bradley Fullmer
The new Boys & Girls Club of Northern Utah Community Campus offers a true safe haven for families and individuals suffering from challenging domestic situations. By Bradley Fullmer
Baltimore-based St. John Properties marks its “double-nickel” anniversary this year, including an impressive 12-year run in the Beehive State that has seen the firm develop more than 1.4 million SF of space in four main Utah cities under the direction of Daniel Thomas. By Bradley Fullmer
At 120,000 SF and highlighted with nine full-size, regulation basketball courts under one expansive roof, the new Western Sports Park marks the largest building investment in Davis County history. By Milt Harrison
The Vue at Desert Color brings resort-style living to exciting new St. George development. By Milt Harrison
Ogden-based firm has established itself as a respected general contractor across numerous vertical markets along with being one of the premier multifamily builders in Utah the past 15 years. By Bradley Fullmer
