Conco Construction’s “It’s Cool to be Blue” platform is an industry-leading initiative to return recognition to skilled labor or what we’ve all historically called “blue collar” careers. If you’re getting ready to make a vocational decision and you’re not sure college is for you or you want immediate earning power, we invite you to explore our Cool To Be Blue program.
You can grow at your own pace at Conco.
“We have a perception problem in this country. We support higher education, but college isn’t for everyone. In our company, we’re doing everything we can to make it strongly worth it—to make it cool—to choose to be blue.”
— Craig Nelson, Conco Construction CEO/President
South Central Kansas suffers from a skilled-trade labor shortage. Many regional companies have immediate career openings that are not currently being filled. More than half the craftsman in America are older than 45 and nearly 20 percent are baby boomers getting ready to retire.
Cool to be Blue is an industry-leading program designed to promote extraordinary opportunities in the field of construction and provide a clear path to highly rewarding careers through on-the-job craft training.
Conco Construction offers fast-track learning opportunities for individuals interested in a construction career. If you’re interested in the skilled trades, but thought of blue-collar jobs as too hard, not glamorous enough or leftover, we want to talk to you.
If you like to work hard and want an opportunity to grow at your own pace, we want you on our team. You’ll get hands-on exposure to the entire construction process, mentoring and clear guidance.
Find out more today about a career in field-craft operations. Our Cool to be Blue program provides opportunities to learn the construction process with a built-in trajectory for a career ranging from carpentry, steel erection/iron work to heavy equipment, concrete and masonry operations.
Dillon has moved from laborer to frame carpenter and sometimes now runs lead.
At Conco, you’ll get a strong paycheck, great benefits, opportunities to grow and the pride that comes from building something bigger than yourself. We offer many reasons here to make a decision to be blue.
We support our employees with an exceptional work experience:
Think of our Work and Learn program as a training platform designed to develop our employees into a skilled trade of their choice. Whether you join Conco as a laborer with no commercial construction experience right out of high school or mid-career, we’re the main track. Because we’re a self-performing contractor we offer an unmatched opportunity to gain hands-on experience in dirtwork, concrete, masonry, steel, framing and carpentry.
For the first 90 days of employment we get to know our new laborer and you get to know Conco. This is a great testing ground as you explore the field of commercial construction to determine whether it interests you and what opportunities are best aligned with your desired career path.
After 90 days, laborers who exemplify our Conconian values and show aptitude and interest for skilled crafts will begin to experience targeted shadowing and mentoring. When school makes sense along with on-the-job training for a laborer’s trajectory, we have developed tradeschool partnerships with many institutions, including WSU Tech.
Our Work and Learn program is not a one-size-fits-all opportunity. It’s a custom experience designed to build outstanding craftsmen and careers that last.
The 18-hour National Center for Construction Education & Research (NCCER) Technical Carpentry certificate from WSU Tech is one example of a tradeschool opportunity Conco employs when it makes sense for a laborer’s career path. Students learn all aspects of basic carpentry through courses like technical mathematics, framing, construction materials and selection, job estimating, blueprint reading, foundations and roughing-in, finish carpentry techniques and applicable codes and standards.
