I’m moving to Kansas City soon and starting school for building maintenance and construction management while building my small service business, Home Fyx Pro. I have 8 years of construction experience and plan to offer home repairs, maintenance, and small concrete jobs on the side. I’m looking for advice on balancing school, jobs, marketing, pricing, and building a good local reputation without taking on too much.
Do we have any carpenters here from the Kansas City, Kansas, or Kansas City, Missouri region? I’m moving into the area soon and would like to learn more about the union presence there. I’m especially interested in understanding how strong the carpenters union is in the region, what kind of work is available, how the apprenticeship or placement process works, and whether there are opportunities for someone with prior construction experience to test in at a higher level. Any advice, local insight, or contacts would be appreciated.
I’m 34 with about 8 years of construction experience as a union laborer in commercial work, building trades, and heavy highway. This fall I’m starting a Building Engineering/Maintenance certificate at KCKCC and a Construction Management A.A.S., while also building a small side business doing concrete and home repairs to sharpen my hands-on skills, estimating, and customer/project management. I’m interested in joining the carpenters union after school, but I’m trying to understand the best path forward. With my field background, maintenance training, and construction management education, is there a realistic track from apprentice/journeyman carpenter into foreman, assistant superintendent, or superintendent roles? Also, does the union evaluate prior construction experience and allow someone to test in or start at a higher apprenticeship level instead of beginning from first year? I’m looking for honest advice from union carpenters, foremen, superintendents, or apprenticeship reps on what credentials and experience actually matter.
I’m 34 with about 8 years of construction experience as a union laborer in commercial work, building trades, and heavy highway. This fall I’m starting a Building Engineering/Maintenance certificate at KCKCC from about 7:00–12:45, and I’m also starting a Construction Management A.A.S. My goal is to build HomeFyx Pro on the side doing small concrete and home repair jobs for income while I’m in school. After the A.A.S., I’m debating whether to test into the carpenters union as an advanced apprentice, pursue assistant superintendent/project coordinator roles, or eventually complete a bachelor’s in construction management online while working. My concern is that I have multiple DUIs/felonies, so I’m unsure how realistic big GC jobs are with background checks. Would a building maintenance certificate + CM A.A.S. + field experience + portfolio be enough to get into smaller contractor management roles, or is the bachelor’s basically required? I’m looking for honest advice from people in construction management, small GC work, subcontracting, or union carpentry about the most realistic path to increase income and eventually become a contractor.
I’m 34 with about 8 years of construction experience as a union laborer in commercial work, building trades, and heavy highway. This fall I’m starting a Building Engineering/Maintenance certificate at KCKCC from about 7:00–12:45, and I’m also starting a Construction Management A.A.S. My goal is to build HomeFyx Pro on the side doing small concrete and home repair jobs for income while I’m in school. After the A.A.S., I’m debating whether to test into the carpenters union as an advanced apprentice, pursue assistant superintendent/project coordinator roles, or eventually complete a bachelor’s in construction management online while working. My concern is that I have multiple DUIs/felonies, so I’m unsure how realistic big GC jobs are with background checks. Would a building maintenance certificate + CM A.A.S. + field experience + portfolio be enough to get into smaller contractor management roles, or is the bachelor’s basically required? I’m looking for honest advice from people in construction management, small GC work, subcontracting, or union carpentry about the most realistic path to increase income and eventually become a contractor.
I’m comparing construction management degree paths and trying to understand how much accreditation really matters in the field. Johnson County Community College and Kansas State have ACCE-accredited construction management/construction science programs, while UCM’s Construction Management program appears to be ABET-accredited but not currently ACCE-accredited. For people working as project managers, estimators, superintendents, or construction executives, does ACCE vs. ABET actually matter when getting hired or promoted? Or do employers care more about internships, field experience, networking, software skills, and work history? I’m coming from union construction labor experience and planning to move toward construction management, so I’m trying to choose the path that gives me the strongest career return.