The Home Builders Institute’s (HBI) recently launched BuildStrong Academy of Orlando received a $1 million contribution from the Harper Family Foundation. The funds will finance scholarships and programs that expand training opportunities for young people in Orlando, throughout Florida, and across the country, according to HBI president and CEO Ed Brady.
The Harper Family Foundation was founded by Lakeland, Florida-based developer and broker Robert Harper and his children in honor of Harper’s late wife, Amy. As part of the donation, the HBI’s construction training facility will be renamed The Harper Family Training Facility.
“Robert Harper’s support of the construction skills education for young people is monumental,” says Brady. “That is why we are honored to christen our building The Harper Family Training Facility, where we provide students with hands-on training in the trades.”
At the naming ceremony, Harper said he has seen firsthand the economic and societal implications of schools no longer offering shop classes.
“Over the past many decades, it has been a failure of our system to let the value of career technical training be forgotten. Generations of young students have not been encouraged to consider the possibility of pursuing rewarding careers in construction,” says Harper. “Today, there’s good news. More young women and men are realizing how rewarding a life in the skilled trades can be. More parents, educators, and secondary school students are taking a closer look at the extraordinary opportunities the trades offer.”
The Orlando BuildStrong Academy opened in June 2021 and conducts skill-building classes at no cost to students. The training is designed to take students from beginners with little or no construction skills to tradespeople who are desired by employers. Instructors use HBI’s industry-recognized curriculum, which is one of only three pre-apprenticeship programs recognized by the U.S. Department of Labor.
The HBI runs similar initiatives at its other BuildStrong Academies around the country, including its newest facility in Houston. The institute also runs 624 other programs in 48 states and Puerto Rico.
“HBI’s most recent Construction Labor Market Report found a nationwide shortage of more than 2 million skilled construction workers. To fill the gap requires the kind of commitment Robert Harper stands for every day,” says Brady. “The commitment of the BuildStrong Academy of Orlando to help build the next generation of skilled construction workers will now stand as a living tribute to Amy Harper’s vision, courage, and compassion in life.”
HBI is a provider of skilled trades training and education. Through pre-apprenticeship training, certification programs, and job placement services, the institute provides high school students, at-risk youth, veterans, transitioning military personnel, justice-involved youth and adults, and displaced workers with the tools needed to build a career in the construction industry.
