Associated General Contractors of Vermont details training, recruitment and on-site Narcan program

Sarah Mierhoff, director of advocacy and communications for the Associated General Contractors of Vermont, told the Vermont House Committee on Commerce and Economic Development on Feb. 7, 2025, that the trade association runs an array of training programs, partners with state and industry groups to recruit new workers and has begun distributing Narcan to members to address overdose risks on worksites.

Mierhoff said AGC Vermont represents contractors, developers, timber framers and paving firms and reported membership at 224 at the end of 2024. “We have more than 200 members. At the end of 2024 that was 224,” she said. She described a Montpelier training facility with classrooms and large-scale hands-on space and a schedule of frequent courses covering safety and trade skills.

The training programs Mierhoff listed include OSHA compliance, VOSHA trainings, AMSHA (mining safety and health) courses and skill-specific instruction on silica safety, confined-space work, trenching, fall protection, electrical licensing, first aid, heavy equipment operation, carpentry, masonry and crane certification. She said AGC schedules high volumes of instruction: the association has 104 in-house trainings booked through July and an additional 77 events hosted by outside groups renting AGC facilities.

Mierhoff described partnerships to build the pipeline into the trades, including collaborations with the Vermont Department of Labor, Vermont Independent Electric Contractors, Vermont Ready Mix and the Vermont Timberframe Association. She said AGC runs career days and on-site demonstrations for career and technical education students and convenes early-career on-site training that places students with member employers.

“Many kids really take to that,” Mierhoff said of hands-on demonstrations, adding that the group sometimes hosts events at the Champlain Valley Fairgrounds and uses its Montpelier facility for supervised machinery demonstrations. She also described off-site training the association brings to employers and said training support includes subsidizing classroom instructors and printed materials.

Mierhoff linked workforce shortages to broader economic issues: contractors, she said, sometimes cannot hire because prospective employees cannot find affordable housing near jobs. She also identified scheduling and budgeting uncertainty caused by national policy shifts and legal delays. “It just adds a level of uncertainty when they are filling out their balance sheets and when they're scheduling out their time,” she said, describing how tariffs or permit appeals can affect contractors’ timelines and costs.

On health and safety, Mierhoff said AGC has begun a mental-health and addiction response program and provides Narcan to members, adding: “we provide Narcan to our members so that they can have Narcan on-site, and that has actually saved lives, we know, by doing that work.”

Committee members asked about coordination with state grant and training programs, including an Agency of Commerce workforce development program (ACCD) and scholarships; Mierhoff said she would follow up on specific grant eligibility and scholarship connections. She also noted AGC’s work with groups promoting women in construction, including the National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC).

No formal committee action or vote on legislation occurred during the presentation; the session concluded with scheduling and procedural notes from the chair.

The committee is scheduled to reconvene Tuesday at 9:15 a.m. to continue other agenda items.