Initiative partners with TEXO Foundation for mobile workshop launch
Little Rock, Ark. (Aug. 28, 2024) — Be Pro Be Proud, an initiative designed to help students explore, plan and launch careers in high-demand technical professions, has announced its expansion into Texas in collaboration with TEXO Foundation.
Over a three-year period, Be Pro Be Proud will mobilize a touring workshop across middle and high schools in the North Central Texas region, offering immersive virtual and augmented reality technical career simulators in construction, welding, manufacturing, transportation and utilities.
“Be Pro Be Proud is proud to partner with TEXO Foundation to unlock new opportunities for North Texas students,” said Randy Zook, president and CEO of the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce and Be Pro Be Proud, Inc. “This unique collaboration will not only make a powerful, long-lasting impact on Texas’ skilled workforce, but it will also help shape a future where every aspiring individual can embrace his or her path to success.”
The campaign will serve as a pilot for other regions in the state. Over a three-year period, Be Pro Be Proud is projected to have over 300 tour dates, attract more than 45,000 mobile workshop visitors and engage nearly 12,500 students, educators and employers across Texas.
“The biggest issue facing the construction industry right now is a skilled craft professional workforce,” said Meloni Raney, president and CEO of TEXO, The Construction Association. “To recruit the next generation of Texas workers, we must do it differently, and Be Pro Be Proud is a great tool to help us do so.”
Texas is the eighth state where Be Pro Be Proud operates, joining Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, New Mexico, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.
For more information, visit BeProBeProud.org.
About Be Pro Be Proud
Be Pro Be Proud is an initiative led by the Associated Industries of Arkansas that is spearheading the movement to bring a new generation of pride, progress, and professionals to Arkansas’ skilled workforce. As the current skilled workforce is at or near retirement age, Be Pro Be Proud hopes to change how Arkansans think about these job opportunities. Be Pro Be Proud offers opportunities for job seekers, skilled professionals, employers, and teachers to be involved through training, workshops and more. For more information about Be Pro Be Proud, visit BeProBeProud.org.
About TEXO Foundation
TEXO Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization supporting the construction members of TEXO, The Construction Association, the North and East Texas chapters of both the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) and the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC), in its workforce development efforts. TEXO Foundation addresses the industry’s labor shortage and works to advance the industry at large by educating, recruiting, training, and retaining the next generation of construction professionals through strategic outreach in its three main focus areas of youth, college and the community.