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WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT

North Carolina has always enjoyed exceptional high school voca- Year in 2014. Ryan has an exceptional ability to relate to students
tional masonry training. and can comfortably communicate with anyone from jobsite labor
to government officials and legislators; an important and needed
The programs are primarily a legacy of the old Brick Association spokesman for the masonry industry. Now Ryan works full time
of North Carolinas (later The Brick Association of the Carolinas) doing what he loves; promoting masonry careers and working with
who, for many years maintained staff dedicated to recruitment young people. Ryan recruits masonry instructors as teaching jobs
and training. However, as the Brick Association of the Carolinas come open and when new programs are implemented. He lends his
expanded beyond North and South Carolina, and later simply be- classroom and career experience to new teachers to help them get
came a part of the Brick Association of America (BIA), systematic off to a good start in a role that can be a challenge for new instruc-
attention to North Carolina high school masonry programs faded. tors fresh from the field.
Combined with the 2007 downturn in the economy, attention to
our high school programs had become a “hit-or-miss” proposi- As for the disconnect between students and the masonry contrac-
tion. tors, Ryan collaborated with North Carolina Community Colleges’
“ApprenticeshipNC” division to create an NCMCA pre-ap-
For most of the prentice program for junior and senior high school students
state, the school to get jobsite masonry experience “earning while learning,”
programs and gain a high school credit for doing so. Some twen-
remarkably ty-four students successfully participated in the summer of
continued to 2018 and Ryan expects more than 100 to participate in 2019.
do well despite Ryan makes sure the kids get to know the masonry contrac-
the general lack tors and the masonry contractors get to know the kids. To
of organized address retention, Ryan works with masonry contractors
support from to help make sure their new, young hires have a successful
the masonry introduction to masonry. In the recent years before March
industry. But of 2018, there was not much
North Carolina systematic and organized masonry promotion and recruit-
masonry in- ment in the Carolinas. But since Ryan started in March,
dustry leaders, Students have their own competition in the 2018 he can’t get it all done in a week’s time. He is constantly in
particularly the SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500® North Carolina regional series. demand for career fairs, vocational training initiative meetings,
leadership of classroom visits, consultations with school officials and more. A
the North Carolina Masonry Contractors Association (NCMCA), vacuum has been filled, and then some.
recognized that the health of the high school programs could
not be taken for granted. Also, there was concern about possible Fortunately, NCMCA members recognize Ryan can’t do it all by
disconnect between masonry classes and masonry contractors who himself. With Ryan as organizer and cheerleader, members have
are potential employees for the masonry students. The masonry been enthusiastically answering his calls to participate in re-
industry was simply not getting the message to the students that cruitment activities and classroom visits. With the help of many
masonry offers great career opportunities. The students were
not being drawn into the trade relative to the numbers of stu-
dents enrolled in the classes.

Retaining an ombudsman for recruitment and training had
been discussed by NCMCA leadership for several years but
became a priority early in 2018 when everyone recognized
there was an individual who would be extraordinarily suitable
for the job. In March 2018, NCMCA added Ryan Shaver to the
NCMCA staff as “Workforce Development & Training Coordi-
nator.” As a senior at Mount Pleasant High School, Ryan won
the National VICA (now SkillsUSA) masonry championship in
1993 and became a successful journeyman with McGee Broth-
ers after graduation, moving through the ranks as foreman and
superintendent. He later had his own masonry company but
couldn’t resist the opportunity to teach masonry when his men-
tor and high school masonry instructor told Ryan he was about
to retire. During his teaching career, he produced state and
national masonry champions and brought lots of young folks
into the industry. He was Mount Pleasant High School Teach- Kent Huntely and Ryan Shaver are all smiles during another successful Masonry Education Day
in North Carolina.
er-of-the-Year and a finalist for his county’s Teacher-of-the-
54 SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500 | 2019 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
®