How to hack it? Student competitions can be a fun way to inject new ideas and energy into an association, and they often help motivate young people who are thinking about careers in an industry or trade.

Those were the goals of the Greater Montgomery Home Builders Association’s Construction Management Competition. Last month, as part of Careers in Construction Month, GMHBA invited more than two dozen local high school students to participate.

The competition was a hands-on, problem-solving challenge with teams composed of GMHBA members, members of the National Association of Home Builder’s Tuskegee University student chapter, and local high schoolers.

Why does it work? The Construction Management Competition tested students’ knowledge of how best to apply residential construction management skills to real-world home-building problems. It also engaged many GMHBA members who were not previously involved at the chapter level, according to a story published on NAHB Now.

What’s the bonus? Industry sponsors helped raise money for the competition and a scholarship fund that will send students to the 2020 International Builders’ Show in Las Vegas.

(Handout photo)