FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 22, 2002
For more information, contact:
Dennis M. Bradshaw
Executive Director
dbradshaw@newhorizonsfoundation.org
(703) 222-9001

NEW HORIZONS FOUNDATION SELECTS INAUGURAL PROJECTS

CHANTILLY, VA - The leaders of The New Horizons Foundation, A Sheet Metal Industry Initiative, have selected three inaugural projects specifically designed to help advance the sheet metal and air conditioning industry. Senior academicians and practitioners at the University of Washington, the University of Wisconsin, and The Institute for Alternative Futures will work closely with industry contractors as the projects move forward.

At a recent Foundation meeting, its key leadership group, known as The Summit Council, reviewed potential projects to determine which would have the most impact and meaning for the industry. “There were many excellent ideas presented to us,” noted New Horizons Foundation Chairman, Ron Rodgers. “We wanted to ensure that the New Horizons’ inaugural projects were top quality and had real application to the needs of our members and their customers.”

At the University of Wisconsin, the project team working on “Quantifying the Cumulative Impact of Change Orders on Sheet Metal Contractors” will develop a rational method for determining the impact on labor productivity of change orders made during construction. At the end of the project, contractors will have an electronic-format model to use to estimate more accurately the actual impact of sheet metal work changes on labor efficiency.

“Attracting the Millennium Generation to the Sheet Metal and HVAC Industries” is the research topic approved by the Foundation for the University of Washington. This initiative focuses on an internet-based strategy to create awareness among young men and women about exciting career opportunities in the sheet metal and HVAC industry. Highlights will include a teen-oriented web site, on-line academic games (with an industry overtone), an industry-related encyclopedia, and virtual experiments for exploring young minds.

Creating a collaborative environment in which contractors and labor leaders work in partnership to envision a preferred future for the industry is the objective of the third inaugural project, “The Future of Union Sheet Metal Construction.” Senior futurists at the Institute for Alternative Futures will help identify key trends that will have an impact upon the labor force and unions, forecast future skills needs, and identify new opportunities for collaboration among contractors and unions.

The New Horizons Foundation provides industry leadership and financial resources for investigative studies and educational programs of value to the sheet metal and air conditioning contracting industry. Projects are selected and implemented annually, based upon recommendations from contractors in the field, industry association leaders, and academic recommendations from universities and research institutes throughout North America.

For additional information, contact Dennis Bradshaw, Executive Director, at (703) 222-9001 or dbradshaw@newhorizonsfoundation.org