Students work with Deere equipment simulators in Mason City, Ia. Photo credit: KIMT TV footageProjecting construction positions to be among some of the best paying jobs over the next five years, groups in Iowa are working to attract more new blood to the industry with the help of equipment simulators.
According to a report from KIMT TV, a partnership between Iowa Workforce Development, Iowa Works, Hawkeye Community College and the Walmart Foundation, has started a recruitment center in Mason City where those interested in getting started in a construction career can get a virtual taste for what the industry holds.
Though the initiative was started as a way to attract more minority and female workers to the industry, the center occasionally invites college and high school students to hop on one of its several John Deere equipment simulators.
Construction employer Chris Smith told the station the simulators have been helpful in demonstrating how much fun and rewarding operating a piece of heavy machinery can be.
“Just stepping into a piece of machinery and listening to the rumble of the engine and moving that dirt and then when you’re all done you see a completed road that’s going to last for 50 years, you can take a lot of accomplishment away from that,” he said.
Nicole Nelson of Iowa Works said the simulator has already led to increased recruitment.
