Associated General Contractors makes $200,000 gift to boost University of Alaska construction workforce education
Anchorage, AK - The Associated General Contractors of Alaska (AGC) made a significant,
$200,000 gift to the University of Alaska’s (UA) Construction Management Workforce
Initiative. University of Alaska President Pat Pitney accepted the gift at AGC’s annual
conference last week.
“Over the past 20 years, AGC has given more than half a million dollars in support of engineering and construction programs at UA to help address critical shortages of construction professionals,” said AGC Executive Director Alicia Amberg. “We’re proud to deepen that partnership and support scholarships for students training to enter some of Alaska’s highest-demand employment fields. If we can train and retain a skilled workforce in Alaska, we will be able to meet our infrastructure needs into the future.”
The initiative is an industry-UA partnership to address the statewide workforce demand. The gift from AGC establishes a new endowment to enhance training and increase enrollment in construction programs at each university (UAA, UAF, and UAS).
Ongoing collaboration has strengthened ties between the construction industry and UA, as they focus on expanding construction education and increasing the number of skilled professionals who remain in Alaska to contribute to the state’s ongoing development.
“We are grateful for this partnership with AGC, and to have friends in the industry alongside us to help Empower Alaska,” said UA President Pat Pitney. “This gift will aid the university’s work to equip students with the relevant skills they need to enter the workforce. It will also provide ongoing education for those in the industry who want to advance in their careers. On behalf of the entire UA system, I extend my deepest thanks to AGC for their generosity and support.”
The gift from AGC helped to exceed the $800,000 fundraising goal of the Construction Management Workforce Initiative. Funds from the initiative have already been invested in construction programs to recruit more students and build capacity. Continued engagement with the industry will grow the initiative's endowment and invest in meeting the state's construction workforce needs.
For more information about the Construction Management Workforce Initiative and the For Alaska campaign’s impact on workforce, please visit https://www.universityforalaska.com/campaign-stories/construction.
The UA Foundation is an independent, nonprofit corporation established in 1974 to seek, secure and steward philanthropic support in partnership with the UA system. For more information on the UA Foundation and how to contribute, please visit www.alaska.edu/foundation.
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For more information, please contact Maggie Demers, UA Foundation director of communications and public relations (907-450-8039 or maggie.demers@alaska.edu).