b'RECRUITMENTof the OCCA and ConstructUHe adds that Stoikos, who has aor a few years of post-secondary websites. My goal is to instil thebackground in recruiting, reallyeducation, and now wants to try a message that students shouldunderstands the mentality of youthnew career path.look at construction as a first- looking for work.choice career path, Stoikos says. In the past, OCCA focused Still, the OCCA Board recognizesprimarily on younger workers, Stoikos is very excited to have theit must also dedicate efforts toagrees Manahan, but in todays opportunity to make a positiveattract mid-career people givenworld, many people change careers difference in an industry withthat, as Mandarino points out, theand look for new opportunities. which she is familiar. I haveaverage age of an apprentice isOlder workers have valuable skill a number of family membersgoing up. Therefore, in additionsets that they can bring to the in the construction industryto reaching out to high schoolconstruction industry. and so I know firsthand what astudents, Mandarino says its also rewarding career it can be, shevery important to reach out to says. I am able to bring a lot ofthe more mature individual, theFor more information on OCCA:enthusiasm to the presentations Iperson who perhaps had a previoushttp://myocca.ca/or do at schools. career [outside of construction]http://constructu.ca/COOPERATIVE EFFORTJohn Mandarino, OCCA Vice-President, and Executive Director of the LIUNA Canadian Tri-Fund, is very excited about the OCCA reboot and refresh. Nicole has an incredible amount of energy and fully understands what OCCA is trying to achieve, he says. We are well positioned to move forward.OCCA is a truly cooperative effort as it encompasses both ends of the industry, that being the unionized labour component and our signatory employee partners, adds Mandarino. This is a phenomenal example of partners working together to build and maintain an organization whose efforts toward recruitment into construction use the method-ologies and technologies that resonate with todays youth.Giovanni Cautillo, OCCA Treasurer and Executive Director of the Ontario Sewer and Watermain Construction Association (OSWCA), says that since Stoikos hiring last fall, we are starting to see traction already, as evidenced by the new social media. Stoikos comes into the role with a fresh and unobstructed perspective.Cautillo says in undertaking the reboot, OCCAs Board of Directors looked at the organiza-tion from the students perspec-tive and worked to close the generational gap between those persons making decisions on the ways to attract young people versus how the young people actually viewed the messaging. H 2 OSWCAFall/Winter 2019 33'