As Knoxville continues to grow, does our city have the workforce capacity to meet its construction needs? 

That was the question posed to our Housing and Neighborhood Development staff by the Knoxville Branch NAACP in late 2022. 

In response, Hope Ealey, the department's Assistant Community Development Administrator, convened what has come to be known as the Construction Career Ladder Roundtable. Participants include American Job Center, CONNECT Ministries, Goodwill Industries, Knoxville Area Transit, Knoxville Chamber, Knox County Schools, Knoxville Leadership Foundation and many other entities that have a stake in the city's preparedness for growth. 

	Construction Career Ladder Resources Tool

"One of the first things we did as a group was identify a list of barriers that keep people from entering and/or advancing in the construction trades," Ealey says.

Barriers for employees include transportation, affordable housing, soft and hard skills training opportunities, apprenticeship programs and others. Employers also identified support they could use, like marketing/outreach, job fairs and boards, and workforce case management. 

Roundtable members developed the Knoxville Construction Career Resources Tool, which cross-references resources with the specific agencies that provide them. 

"The good news is that Knoxville already has resources in the community to meet this need!" says Ealey. "This resource tool is intended to connect workers and contractors with resources."

Access and download the tool -- which will be updated regularly -- at the Construction Career Ladder Roundtable page.