Local Contractors, Vocational Students Participate in Build With Strength ICF Events in Cincinnati

NRMCA, the ICF Manufacturers Association (ICFMA), and Ohio Concrete recently partnered with Allied Construction Industries, an Ohio-based workforce training organization, to offer ICF education and training to over 75 contractors and vocational students in Cincinnati. The all-day contractor roundtable on April 4 featured morning presentations that included a Build With Strength overview of ICF commercial construction as well as testimonials from a design/build ICF developer and a general contractor of largescale ICF facilities. A tour of a new 5-story hotel being built with Fox Blocks ICFs was also conducted, followed by a full afternoon ICFMA installers training program, reports NRMCA Senior Director, Building Innovations, Donn Thompson.

Day Two featured the offering of a first of its kind ICF installers training (seen here), offering specialized vocational credits for high school students, that was recently approved by the Ohio Department of Education as an Industry Recognized Credential (IRC) beginning with the 2023 school year. The students trained on April 5 by ICFMA earned 6 of the 12 IRCs required for graduation under the state’s program.

Interest in the credentialed ICF training from other Ohio school districts has led to ongoing discussions among participating organizations to look at additional student events throughout Ohio. The program can potentially serve as a model for similar vocational training for future ICF installers in other locations in the U.S.

For more information on the ICFMA installers training, contact Derek Torres at dtorres@nrmca.org. Donn Thompson can provide more information on Build With Strength activities in the Midwest.