Stebnitz Builders partners with YouthBuild on home
By Kellen Olshefski
Correspondent
When progress on the Career and College Academy’s YouthBuild project recently ground to a halt following the departure of its construction manager, local contractor Stebnitz Builders stepped up to the plate to help get things back on track.
Funded by a federal grant, the YouthBuild program is partnership between the CCA and Community Action of Rock and Walworth counties that gives students six months of on-the-build skills and construction training. The program is currently building a home on South Maple Lane in Whitewater. Once completed, Community Action will use the home to help a family who is struggling to get a traditional bank loan for a home, providing a loan at a reduced rate.
CCA Director of School to Work Opportunities Chris Trottier said Community Action has been working diligently to keep the program staffed, with the current labor market it’s been difficult to keep a construction manager. He said the construction manager works with the kids, plans the on-site lessons and work, manages the subcontractors and ordering and handles the training for valuable student certifications.
“This individual develops relationships with the kids, teaches them the skills, how to use the tools… it’s a pretty important position,” he said.
Trottier said the program lost its construction manager in August when he left to pursue another management position.
“We were left with nobody and we were kind of working collaboratively with the team to make sure we were moving forward to the best of our ability,” he said.
Trottier said he reached out to Chris Stebnitz, who made a few referrals but those leads didn’t pan out. Stebnitz next told Trottier to contact Tracy McHugh, the sales and brand manager at Stebnitz Builders. McHugh had good news – they had a crew waiting on materials they wanted to keep busy and asked Trottier if it would be OK for that crew to work with the students, all at no cost to the YouthBuild program.
To read the rest of the story – and see additional photos – pick up a copy of the Oct. 21 Elkhorn Independent.
