RICHLAND, Wash.— The Washington State Building and Construction Trades Council will use a $20,000 gift from Bechtel National Inc. for the Helmets to Hardhats program, which identifies and recruits military personnel for civilian work in the construction trades.
“The Helmets to Hardhats program has an excellent track record in identifying and recruiting military service personnel for construction work,” said Joe St. Julian, deputy project manager for Bechtel’s Waste Treatment Plant project. “Many of the skills our military personnel learned to help protect our freedom are directly transferable to the construction industry and WTP where they’ll be used to protect our environment.”
The Washington State Building and Construction Trades Council will use the Bechtel donation to train active duty, Reserve, National Guard and retired military personnel to work in the construction industry.
“The leadership skills and maturity of veterans generally make them excellent candidates for jobs in the civilian world, and we want to take advantage of that,” said BC Smith, president of the Central Washington Building and Construction Trades Council, which provides all craft workers to WTP.
Helmets to Hardhats is a program founded by the AFL-CIO to connect men and women of the military with building and construction careers. Although looking for a job can be stressful for anyone, it can be especially stressful for military personnel transitioning to civilian life.
“Helmets to Hardhats helps reduce some of that stress by connecting potential candidates with organizations that provide apprenticeship training, direct access to employers, as well as networking opportunities,” said Dave Myers, Executive Secretary of the Washington Building and Construction Trades Council.
“The council and Helmets to Hardhats program adds value to military personnel,” said St. Julian. “So what we get is a trained, motivated worker with leadership skills and a high level of maturity. Those are traits Bechtel seeks in all employees.”
Earlier this month, Bechtel earned the 2014 Military Friendly Employer® title conferred by the publisher of G.I. Jobs and Military Spouse magazines. The title is awarded to companies that meet criteria tied to their key programs and policies, such as the strength of the company’s military recruiting efforts, the percentage of new hires with prior military service, retention programs, and company policies on employee service to the U.S. National Guard and military reserves.
“We’re pleased to extend our support of military personnel with this gift to the Helmets to Hardhats program,” St. Julian said.
About:
Bechtel National Inc. is designing and building the world’s largest radioactive waste treatment plant for the U.S. Department of Energy at the Hanford Site in southeastern Washington state. The Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP), also known as the Vit Plant, will immobilize the radioactive liquid waste stored in 177 underground tanks using a process called vitrification.
Vitrification involves blending the waste with glass-forming materials and heating it to high temperatures. The molten mixture is then poured into stainless steel canisters to cool and solidify. In this glass form, the waste is stable and impervious to the environment, and its radioactivity will dissipate over hundreds to thousands of years.
The WTP will cover 65 acres with four major facilities – Pretreatment, Low-Activity Waste Vitrification, High-Level Waste Vitrification and Analytical Laboratory – as well as operations and maintenance buildings, utilities and office space.